The United States Coast Guard rescued five people on November 6 after their sailing vessel, the Magic Bus, began taking on water 260 nautical miles (482 kilometres) offshore Cape Hatteras, forcing them to abandon ship into their life raft.
Coast Guard Sector North Carolina command centre staff received a distress call and dispatched multiple assets, including the cutter Angela McShan and aircraft from Air Station Elizabeth City.
A fixed-wing aircraft located the life raft, established communications with the survivors, and confirmed everyone was in stable condition.
Due to the long distance from shore, the coast guard coordinated with the aircraft carrier USS George HW Bush to provide a refuelling platform for the rescue helicopter.
The helicopter crew arrived on scene, successfully recovered all five individuals from the life raft in good health, and returned to the carrier for further refuelling before transporting the survivors safely back to Air Station Elizabeth City.