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PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The Coast Guard assisted in a international rescue at approximately 2 p.m. Wednesday when a sailboat crew was rescued off the Azores by the Portuguese air force.
An HC-130 Hercules crew from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina, was participating in an International Search and Rescue Exercise in the Azores when Rescue Coordination Center Lajes watchstanders on the island of Terceira, Portugal, requested the crew's assistance in the real-life rescue.
The crew coordinated with a Portuguese air force EH-101 helicopter crew to locate and rescue four distressed sailors and escorted the helicopter to Flores Island.