Tampa Bay Buccaneers backup quarterback Blaine Gabbert became a “citizen hero” Thursday when, while out on jet skis with his brothers, he helped rescue a family of three and a pilot from a downed helicopter.
Just after 5 p.m., a helicopter lost power as it approached the Peter O. Knight Airport and descended into the waters of Hillsborough Bay as the pilot conducted an emergency landing near the Davis Islands Yacht Club.
Gabbert, who lives in the Davis Islands archipelago, was out on jet skis with his brothers when he heard the crash.
“I vaguely remember hearing a faint noise, so we turned around, left the yacht club … It almost looked like a crew boat in the water that had broken up into about four pieces.