Michigan Deputies Use Special Airboats to Rescue People After Four-Wheeler Falls Through the Ice
Michigan deputies recently rescued four people stranded on the frozen Saginaw Bay after one of their four-wheelers broke through the ice. To do so, the Bay County Sheriff’s deputies had to use their state-of-the-art 1000 Mile Island Airboat.
According to the Bay County Sheriff’s Office in Michigan, calls were received by the Bay County Central Dispatch at about 12:50 a.m. earlier this month. Four men were stranded in the bay. Two of the men reportedly were out of gas.
One of their four-wheelers had broken through the ice, and a 49-year-old man and a 13-year-old boy had fallen into the water. They were able to get out, while the other two had avoided falling into the freezing water.
When deputies arrived on the scene in their specialized airboat, paramedics reportedly evaluated the two who had gone into the water and transported them to a local hospital. Doctors expected them to be okay.
Sheriff’s Deputies have used the specialized airboat to make numerous rescues
Around two weeks prior, Bay County Sheriff’s deputies had to use their airboat to rescue four others from Saginaw Bay.
The first incident involved two 19-year-olds riding an eight-wheel 2009 Argo Avenger. The amphibious all-terrain vehicle crashed through the ice about 2.5 miles from shore.
Around 24 hours later, rescuers used the airboat again to save two others. A couple of snowmobilers, ages 22 and 21, had fallen through the ice. The Sheriff’s Office reported that they managed to climb onto a 50-by-50-foot slab of ice as their vehicles sank. The U.S. Coast Guard also provided aerial assistance with a helicopter in that incident.
What is a 1000 Mile Island Airboat?
According to the manufacturer, “Each 1000 Island Airboat is constructed with a six-stringer design coupled with our proprietary layup composite hull and embedded flotation, offering enhanced buoyancy and durability under challenging conditions. A 3/8-inch virgin UHMW polymer bottom provides exceptional abrasion resistance – especially valuable during operations over ice, debris, or shallow terrain.”
After two of the rescues, Bay County Sheriff Troy R. Cunningham praised the airboat, calling it “the Cadillac” of airboats. They come with a fully enclosed canvas cabin, a 40,000-BTU cabin heater with defrost, suspension seating, in-boat communication systems, a proprietary hydraulic ice brake system, Thermal Imagery Cameras, and a 520-hp GM LSX engine.
