Blaine Gabbert helps rescue helicopter passengers on his jet ski after emergency landing
Four passengers on a helicopter tour in the Tampa area had to make an emergency water landing Thursday, and their rescue efforts were aided by Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Blaine Gabbert.
Gabbert arrived on the scene in his jet ski, and helped transport the passengers to safety.
Here are the details, according to the Tampa Bay Times:
Barely 90 minutes after he said he lost hope of making it out of the water, Hunter Hupp, 28, walked out of the Peter O. Knight Airport terminal wrapped in a white sheet. He said it still hadn’t hit him that he had survived after being trapped in a helicopter submerged beneath the water.
Hupp, his 62-year-old father, 59-year-old mother and the pilot, a 33-year-old man, were finishing a helicopter tour when they had to make an emergency landing about 200 yards from Davis Islands just after 5 p.m. Thursday, Hupp said. All four survived with no injuries.
They were planning to land at the airport when Hupp said he heard a popping sound in the rotor above his head. Tampa Police Department Lt. Daniel College said the helicopter had an engine failure. Hupp said the helicopter wasn’t going to make it back to the airport.
As the helicopter hit the water and began to sink, Hupp said he was caught under seatbelts and cords. He said he struggled to get out as his parents and the pilot escaped and made their way to the surface.
Hupp said he began to give up, but he thought of his parents floating above him. He said he thought of what they would go through if he drowned, so he made one more attempt to get out of the helicopter.
Finally, he freed himself. Hupp estimates he was underneath the water for between 45 seconds and a minute.
Kudos to Gabbert and the other bystanders who arrived on their personal watercrafts to help get the passengers to safety.
List
Bucs know their playoffs start Sunday vs. Panthers
