Boat overturns near Statue of Liberty

NEW YORK - April 6, 2012 (WPVI) -- A tugboat overturned Friday morning near New York's Liberty Island and three crew members were rescued by a ferry captain who also helped in the 2009 "Miracle on the Hudson" rescue.

The three workers on the tugboat Katherine G. were taken for medical treatment after the accident, which occurred around 9:45 a.m., Coast Guard spokesman Charles Rowe said. They were not seriously injured and were expected to recover.

The workers were trying to lift something with a crane when the vessel tipped over into the Hudson River. The boat was seen on its side, on the northeast side of Liberty Island. It also was visible from the Battery Park area in Lower Manhattan.

Capt. Mohamed Gouda was returning from a NY Waterway ferry trip from Wall Street to New Jersey when he saw the boat and the three workers in the water. The crew pulled the men out using cradles dipped into the Hudson River.

"I lowered the cradles, as the passengers climbed up. The same procedure we used during Flight 1549," Gouda said.

US Airways Flight 1549 had just taken off from LaGuardia Airport when a flock of geese disabled the engines on Jan. 15, 2009. Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger III safely glided into a water landing. All 155 passengers and crew members were rescued.

Gouda helped rescue 143 people from the plane.

NY Waterway ferry crews have rescued more than 250 people from the water in its 25 years in service, the company said in a statement.

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