Dramatic rescue at sea caught on tape

LONDON -- Coastguard helicopter video captured the dramatic moment when a wave swept Irish fishermen and their rescuers off the back of an upturned boat in the frigid North Atlantic this week.

The British Coastguard got a distress call from the 75-foot Iuda Naofa fishing vessel late on Tuesday morning after it began taking on water about 48 miles north of the northernmost tip of the Scottish Outer Hebrides island chain.

Two members of the five-man crew were transferred onto a sister fishing boat, but three ended up clinging to the hull of the vessel as it sank fast.

As a camera on board the rescue helicopter rolled, a large wave swept all three of the remaining crew members, and a handful of Coastguard personnel, into the water. The Coastguard says that at this time of year, anyone floating in the North Atlantic is likely to die within 20 minutes.

But all three of the fishermen were quickly hoisted to safety and transported to hospital, where they were treated for mild hypothermia.

"The weather conditions on scene were very rough seas," said Coastguard Duty Watch Manager Paul Tunstall. He called the rescue a "great achievement."