Five people had to be rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter on Saturday after they became stuck while fishing on a Merrimack River jetty when the tide cut them off from the mainland in Salisbury, Massachusetts.
The U.S. Coast Guard says crews at the Merrimack station saw the group was unable to safely return to land around 2:30 p.m. Saturday, leading to a response from a 47-foot lifeboat, the Newburyport Harbormaster and Newburyport police.
No vessel was able to execute a rescue, however, due to breaking surf and approaching high tide, the Coast Guard said, adding that life jackets were able to be passed to the stranded group in the meantime, though.
A Coast Guard helicopter was requested, arrived on scene and successfully rescued each person, one at a time, the agency said. All five were taken to Plumb Island Airport where EMS was waiting to check them out. There were no known injuries, and they were released.
