Woman goes overboard after falling from pleasure vessel off UK coast – sparking emergency callout to ship
A WOMAN who went overboard a pleasure vessel off the Isle of Wight has sparked a major callout.
HM Coastguard was desperately searching for the woman after the alarm was raised at 1.45pm.
Two HM Coastguard search and rescue helicopters and a plane were sent on the major search.
The woman was winched safely out of the water by a helicopter at about 4pm, a spokesperson for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said.
She was flown to St Mary’s Hospital, Newport, for a check-up.
The alarm was made from south of the town of Ventnor, which sits on the southern tip of the island.
Two nearby vessels also supported the search, including a cross channel ferry after diverting from its usual route from Portsmouth, IslandEcho reported.
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution’s all-weather lifeboat from Bembridge, and Sandown and Shanklin Independent Lifeboat, were also part of the search.