Although Nome Search and Rescue was delayed because of a prior mission, the team managed to rescue three persons from a drifting ice floe on Sunday, troopers reported.

Alaska State Troopers were contacted at 6: 23 pm and it was reported that three men were drifting out to sea on an ice floe that had broken off from the main ice shelf located on West Beach outside of Nome. The men were identified as John Culp Jr, age 43, James Gibson, age 33, and Phillip Rode, age 45.

But, Nome SAR was actively on another search and rescue mission east of Cape Nome and were unable to immediately respond. The team was searching for a snow machiner that was believed to be injured in that area.

SAR completed that prior mission and the snow machiner was located and determined to be ok.

With the completion of that mission, SAR dispatched an R-44 helicopter to the floe and the three men were successfully lifted from the floe.

There were no reported injuries in both cases.

  adrift, floe, helicopter, ice, james gibson, joh culp, nome, phillip rode, r44, rescue