Air Canada pax locate stranded sailor

A lone sailor drifting for up to 16 hours in the Tasman Sea was rescued after passengers on board two commercial airlines saw him stranded through binoculars.

The 44-year-old Queenslander was spotted roughly 270 nautical miles off the coast of Sydney by passengers flying between Vancouver to Sydney with Air Canada and Auckland to Sydney via Air New Zealand, The Telegraph reported.

According to police, the man had activated his emergency beacon at roughly 8.00am on Monday after setting sail from Pittwater to Eden.

Up to seven passengers travelling with the two carriers with binoculars began searching for the man and his vessel before eventually locating him after midnight.

A passenger on board the Air Canada flight posted on Facebook that the 15 hour flight between North America and Australia turned into 17 hours as they searched for the missing sailor.

"Amazing, and slightly off-putting, to see what a Boeing 777 aircraft can do when not on autopilot and flying/circling low over the ocean,” the passenger wrote.

"Found the boat thanks to people who bring binoculars in their carry-on (yup, like 6-7 sets onboard), and we're now home safely."

The man returned to shore earlier today, with police confirming he was unharmed.

Sourced: etravelblackboardasia