A police officer and a military member who were involved in the rescue of three stranded fishers on Lake Manitoba earlier this month detailed the night as a collaboration that involved some help from the missing fishers. Zach Hotte was on the rescue plane, a CC-130H Hercules, on the morning of Jan. 10, flying 1,000 feet over Lake Manitoba when a flashing light caught the attention of his spotter. The rescue team was dealing with reduced visibility due to snowfall, as well as darkness inherent to the overnight search. “We saw the three headlights from the three snowmobiles of the RCMP guys going directly towards (the fishers),” Hotte said. They had clearance to airdrop search and rescue technicians onto Lake Manitoba that night because they knew RCMP would be nearby to assist and extract members if needed, he said.