Police Boat Rescued From Niagara River By Helicopter
8:12 AM, Jun 20, 2011 Written by Chelsi Zash
Niagara Falls, NY — A pilot spent Father's Day recovering a boat from the scene of Saturday's dangerous rescue mission.Pulling almost 10,000 pounds out of the powerful Niagara River isn't easy.Williamsville native Eric Fritz, who joined the Army National Guard 11 years ago, spent this Father's Day flying a massive Chinook helicopter just upstream from the raging Horseshoe Falls.New York State Parks Police say they called the military to help them remove their partially submerged rescue boat that had been stuck on rocks overnight. The boat got stuck on Saturday when two Parks Police officers got lost in the fog, during a rescue mission.
On Saturday, a Canadian helicopter successfully pulled the officers to safety. Sunday, a local Army pilot helped rescue the vessel.
Fritz's step-father Gary videotaped Sunday morning's hour long mission, which wasn't easy. Fritz says these massive choppers can carry up to 20,000 pounds, so once the boat was out, he knew his crew's mission was a success.
CBS Newspath