Trio plucked from liferaft off WA coast

An air force helicopter has plucked three fishermen from a liferaft off the West
Australian coast in a rescue drama that also involved a Qantas jet and an RAAF
Hercules.
The men were winched to safety about 1.40pm (WST) on Monday after activating an
emergency beacon when their fishing boat started sinking off the WA southern coast.
They were flown to Esperance on the south coast, Australian Maritime Safety
Authority (AMSA) spokeswoman Tracey Jiggins said.
The men had mild hypothermia but otherwise appeared OK after their 18-metre
crayfishing boat began going down early on Monday about 93 nautical miles southeast
of Esperance.
WA Water Police Sergeant Michael Wear said the three fishermen woke to find the
vessel listing and taking on water through the hatches.
They set off the emergency beacon about 7am and took to the liferaft before the
vessel sank in about 80 metres of water, he told ABC Radio.
"The EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon) certainly saved them ...
they are certainly very lucky to be alive today," Sgt Wear said.
During Monday's rescue effort a Qantas passenger jet crew flying from Sydney to
Perth was asked to divert over the area to keep sight of the liferaft.
Flight 475 resumed its routine flight path when a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF)
Hercules reached the area first.
The Hercules circled the raft while fishing vessels were also diverted to the area.
Earlier on Monday the crew of a chartered plane sent by AMSA saw orange smoke from a
distress flare coming from the covered liferaft but they could not see people.
An RAAF S-76 rescue helicopter was sent out and winched the men to safety.
Sgt Wear said the captain of the boat had also been rescued only two weeks ago after
boat problems.