{"id":514799,"date":"2026-07-07T22:32:18","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T22:32:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/514799\/"},"modified":"2026-07-07T22:32:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T22:32:18","slug":"airboat-crew-rescues-distressed-helicopter-on-lake-jesup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/514799\/","title":{"rendered":"Airboat crew rescues distressed helicopter on Lake Jesup"},"content":{"rendered":"

LAKE JESUP, Fla. \u2014 A routine day on Lake Jesup turned into an extraordinary rescue when a local airboat crew stepped in to help a helicopter in distress.<\/p>\n

On July 2, Derrick Lockhart of Airboat Rides at Midway received a call about a helicopter experiencing mechanical issues nearby. After gathering details about the aircraft\u2019s size, Lockhart and his crew quickly loaded an airboat and headed onto Lake Jesup.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Airboat crew rescues distressed helicopter on Lake Jesup A routine day on Lake Jesup turned into an extraordinary rescue when a local airboat crew stepped in to help a helicopter in distress. <\/p>\n

They found the helicopter hovering over a small island. Lockhart says the state uses it to monitor alligator farms and eggs. The helicopter landed safely, but extracting it was challenging.<\/p>\n

It took a team of 14 people to carefully lift the helicopter\u2014estimated to weigh up to 1,700 pounds\u2014onto the front of the airboat. From there, the crew transported both the aircraft and its occupants safely back to dry land.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Airboat crew rescues distressed helicopter on Lake Jesup A routine day on Lake Jesup turned into an extraordinary rescue when a local airboat crew stepped in to help a helicopter in distress. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never rescued a helicopter before. It\u2019s probably a once-in-a-lifetime event,\u201d Lockhart said.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here<\/a> to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

TOP STORIES FROM WFTV CHANNEL 9<\/p>\n

\u00a92026 Cox Media Group<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LAKE JESUP, Fla. \u2014 A routine day on Lake Jesup turned into an extraordinary rescue when a local…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":514800,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[255738,111,139,69,147,406],"class_list":["post-514799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-airboat-crew-rescues-distressed-helicopter-on-lake-jesup","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=514799"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514799\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/514800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=514799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=514799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=514799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}