Video from the harrowing rescue attempt showed Petty Officer 2nd Class Derrian Duryea, in an orange suit and with an axe in his left hand, buffeted by winds and spraying water as he was lowered 80 feet (24 meters) to the car through falling snow. “As I was coming down I was just really focused on how am I going to get in this car when there’s, you know, pretty much rapids coming over the car right next to Niagara Falls,” Duryea said by phone later after returning to Selfridge Air National Guard Base, northeast of Detroit, where the crew is stationed. Throughout the operation, the helicopter's pilot, Lt. Chris Monacelli, and flight mechanic Jon Finnerty kept a wary eye on the waterfall's icy mist as it coated the hovering aircraft, including the windows, further limiting what they could see.
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Coast Guard swimmer pulls body from car above Niagara Falls
