Boaters, drone operator, help rescue 7 with sinking boat at Utah Lake
Aug 3, 2024, 1:51 PM | Updated: Aug 4, 2024, 12:11 pm
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Seven people were rescued from their sinking boat at Utah Lake Saturday, with the help of bystanders, emergency responders and a citizen with a drone, according to the Utah County Sheriff’s Office.
The seven people all had life jackets and included three adults, two teenagers, and two toddlers, 2 and 3 years old. The drone operator sacrificed his drone in the rescue.
Sgt. Spencer Cannon with the Utah County Sheriff’s Office said that at approximately 11 a.m., the Lindon Police Department got a report of a boat sinking on Utah Lake. Officers headed to the Lindon Marina and encountered a man who was preparing to launch his drone.
Officers knew there was a sinking boat but only that it was somewhere between the marina and Saratoga Springs, a distance of 7 miles. An officer asked the drone operator to help find the seven people. The man agreed and was able to locate the sinking boat and people approximately 2.5 miles from the marina. He provided a GPS location to rescue crews.
Other boaters in the area also discovered the family in distress and provided help, Cannon said. One, an off-duty firefighter from Orem, “scooped up a couple people,” Cannon said, and then towed the sinking boat to the Lindon Marina. Another boater collected the rest of the family and took them back to the marina.
A sheriff’s office sergeant learned from the drone operator that he had overridden the automatic return that would have returned the drone to the operator before its battery died. While trying to bring the drone back, the battery died, and the drone fell into Utah Lake.
“Without this drone operator’s assistance, this rescue operation could easily have taken an hour or more longer than it did,” Cannon said.
He said that even in warm weather, the people in the water could have had trouble regulating their body temperatures if they had to stay in it longer.
“But the most critical factor in this rescue operation is that the family had life jackets for all those on their boat — and they were using them,” Cannon said. “Without those lifejackets, this incident could have had a much different outcome.”
No injuries were reported.
