Passenger airlifted off cruise ship along North Carolina coast

ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. (WBTV) - The United States Coast Guard airlifted a cruise ship passenger along the North Carolina coast this week.

The flight happened Monday, Nov. 2, after a passenger on the Norwegian Bliss cruise ship experienced a medical emergency.

U.S. Coast Guard officials said the ship was about 32 miles from the Oregon Inlet, which is between Bodie Island and Pea Island along the Outer Banks.

A video posted by the Coast Guard showed a guardsman descend from an aircraft onto the ship deck. The ailing passenger was then raised up into the aircraft and flown to a hospital in Norfolk, Va. The passenger was said to have been in stable condition.

The crew that airlifted the cruise ship passenger was from the Coast Guard station in Elizabeth City, N.C.

Officials did not say exactly what medical condition the passenger experienced.

The nearly 1,100-foot-long Norwegian Bliss ship is operated by Norwegian Cruise Lines and can carry about 4,000 guests.

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