NYPD airlifts woman, 64, to safety after she’s lost in thick brush near Brooklyn beach

A 64-year-old woman was airlifted to safety by the NYPD after she got lost in the thick brush near an isolated beach in Brooklyn, police said.

The woman called 911 on Sunday around 2:25 p.m., saying she had lost her way and was stranded in the thicket between Flatbush Ave. and Dead Horse Bay, near the Marine Parkway Bridge connecting Brooklyn to the Rockaways.

Luckily for her, the NYPD’s Aviation Unit is based right near the spot, on the other side of Flatbush Ave. at Floyd Bennett Field. A police helicopter was promptly sent aloft to search for her and she was soon spotted.

“We got good eyes on her right now,” an Aviation Unit officer can be heard saying on video posted on X by the NYPD.

The 911 dispatcher, meanwhile, said the woman is “advising there’s no way to get back out — it’s impassable,” quickly adding, “See if you can drop the basket.”

No matter the emergency, our officers are always there for New Yorkers.

When an elderly woman got lost in the woods at Dead Horse Bay, the NYPD Aviation Unit located and brought her to safety.

The NYPD always answers the call for help. pic.twitter.com/r3rrGxxT4f

— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) August 5, 2026

Moments later, an officer is lowered from the chopper and can then be seen being hoisted back up, with the woman holding onto him.

The woman was not injured.

Dead Horse Bay is part of the Gateway National Park Recreation Area. The bay is near undeveloped parkland with trails that lead to “Glass Bottle Beach,” where radiological waste was found in 2020.