Over the weekend, police sent a helicopter out to find a man stranded on a jet ski in the Great South Bay after he called 911 but his cell phone died.

 

According to police, the Rocky Point man was riding a 2020 Kawasaki jet ski in the Great South Bay at about 7:30pm on Friday night when he hit a sandbar near Ridge Island in Bellport. He used his cell phone to call 911 and then lost battery power right after he made the call.

 

A Suffolk County Police Aviation Section helicopter searched the area and found the stranded jet skier. The aviation crew then guided Marine Bureau officers to his location. Police had to launch a small craft designed to travel short distances in shallow water to reach the stranded jet skier. They rescued him close to midnight and returned him safely to shore.