Woman goes overboard after falling from pleasure vessel off UK coast – sparking emergency callout to ship

A WOMAN who went overboard a pleasure vessel off the Isle of Wight has sparked a major callout.

HM Coastguard was desperately searching for the woman after the alarm was raised at 1.45pm.

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HM Coastguard used two helicopters in the search[/caption]

Two HM Coastguard search and rescue helicopters and a plane were sent on the major search.

The woman was winched safely out of the water by a helicopter at about 4pm, a spokesperson for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said.

She was flown to St Mary’s Hospital, Newport, for a check-up.

The alarm was made from south of the town of Ventnor, which sits on the southern tip of the island.

Two nearby vessels also supported the search, including a cross channel ferry after diverting from its usual route from Portsmouth, IslandEcho reported.

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution’s all-weather lifeboat from Bembridge, and Sandown and Shanklin Independent Lifeboat, were also part of the search.

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Ventnor is on the southern tip of the Isle of Wight[/caption]