Crew Of Eagle 1 Save Fisherman From Certain Death

Two men were fishing on the Occoquan River in northern Virginia when the motor on their boat failed. The boat began drifting toward the downstream Occoquan River Dam, which has a 72-foot drop, so the men abandoned it before it was swept over, grabbing onto a pole affixed to the top of the dam. The Prince William County Fire Department asked the Park Police for assistance with a hoist rescue, and Eagle 1 responded with a crew of four – pilot Kevin Chittick, co-pilot Ken Burchell, and rescue technicians Mark Varanelli and David Hurley. One fisherman was pulled to the shore by a Fairfax Police Department helicopter; the second fisherman was only a few feet from being swept over the dam when the USPP officers hoisted him onboard Eagle 1. According to rescuers familiar with the dam, a plunge down the dam face would have been “definitely fatal.”