Police helicopter aids in rescue of two fishermen who went overboard in Long Island Sound

Suffolk County police rescued two fishermen who went overboard in Long Island Sound Monday evening and spent more than an hour clinging to an inflatable seat cushion.

Officers Cory Kim and Robert Reed of the department’s Marine Bureau responded to a report of two fishermen on a six-foot inflatable raft that had not returned at approximately 7:30 p.m. A police helicopter helped locate the fishermen, who had launched a boat from Shoreham Beach, and guided the marine unit to their location after searching for more than 30 minutes, police said.

The two Brooklyn brothers had hit a “rogue wave,” police said, knocking them overboard.

Both men, ages 30 and 35, were wearing life jackets. They spotted the rescuers aboard Marine Delta and shouted for help. The officers on the boat heard them at first but could not initially see them in the dark. The helicopter used a spotlight to illuminate the men a short distance from the rescue vessel.

The men were pulled to safety and transported back to shore. Neither man was injured, police said.