Lady Elliot Island boat capsize: Desperate search for missing man after boat overturned ends in tragedy off Queensland coast near Bundaberg after Life Flight winched a father and son to safety
An extensive search for a man who went missing after a yacht overturned ended in tragedy after crews discovered his body at sea.
Emergency services were alerted to the capsizing near Lady Elliot Island off the coast of Bundaberg in central Queensland at around 5am on Sunday.
The keel probably broke, causing the ship to capsize.
A man, 62, and his son, 27, managed to climb onto the hull of the overturned boat to activate a distress beacon.
The pair were brought to safety by the crew of the RACQ LifeFlight Rescue helicopter at around 10.15am, almost two hours after the search began.
Another crew member, a 65-year-old man from Yeppoon, was missing.
After hours of searching, the water police found the body of the 65-year-old man just after 2 p.m.
The body of a 65-year-old man has been discovered after a yacht (pictured) capsized off Queensland’s central coast
The ship was en route between Yeppoon and Brisbane this weekend when the keel, the flat blade at the bottom of the boat, broke.
Images from the LifeFlight helicopter show the overturned boat about four nautical miles (7.4 km) from land.
A statement from LifeFlight said they launched the helicopter around 8:30 a.m. and located the men clinging to the side of the ship two hours later.
The father and son managed to get to safety by helicopter after spending more than five hours in the water.
They were transported to Bundaberg Hospital in stable conditions.
All three men are believed to be experienced sailors.
A father and son, in their 60s and 20s respectively, were pulled to safety after they were found hours later clinging to the overturned boat.
The tragic death comes after three people died when their boat capsized during wild storms on Boxing Day last year.
The three men, Robert Holden, David Logan and Stephen Tait, were on an annual fishing trip in Brisbane’s Moreton Bay when they encountered the terrible weather.
While eight others on board were rescued, the bodies of Mr Logan, Mr Tait and Mr Holden were only recovered in the wake of the devastating storm.