CHARLOTTE, Vt. -- Helicopters battling high winds and choppy waves plucked 21 people, including four children, from a runaway ice floe as it began to break up on frigid Lake Champlain Monday.
The victims were ice fishing near Charlotte when a 2,500-square-foot patch of ice broke loose and drifted into the lake, said Maj. Gen. Don Edwards, head of the Vermont Army National Guard.
A guard helicopter stationed in Burlington made three trips to the floe, while a New York State Police chopper made two trips, ferrrying victims to the New York side of the lake.
Winds gusting to 50 mph and 3-foot waves complicated the mission.
'There were very difficult flying conditions,' Edwards said. 'In fact, the guys would not normally have taken off, but because of the life-threatening situation, they did.'
Edwards said the ice floe was breaking up while victims were being pulled into the choppers. He said pilots did not land on the ice for fear that it would break up even faster.
Instead, rescuers hovered above the floe, and pulled the victims on board.
The victims, including four children, were flown to a small park in Essex, N.Y., where they were examined by rescue workers. None needed hospitalization.
'Those are some very lucky people, because that thing was breaking up out from under them,' said Edwards. 'By the time they got done, you could see cracks in it with the water coming right through it.'
'The helicopters hovered real low,' Edwards said. 'They didn't put the choppers on the ice because they were afraid they'd break it.'
'And they (the victims) were obviously overjoyed to see the helicopters,' Edwards said. 'They were jumping around and crying and yelling. One guy jumped out of the copter and rolled on the ground, he was so happy.'
The victims were spotted by a New York State Trooper near Essex, N.Y., at about 1:20 p.m., drifting north at about 10 mph, said Essex County Emergency Services Director Robert Purdy.
The last of the victims had been ferried to safety by 3:30 p.m., officials said.
Edwards said 12 fishing shanties had been built on the ice, and were swept into the lake along with the victims.
The National Weather Service reported thelake's temperature stood at 36 degrees when it was last read on Sunday.
