in the early morning hours of april 6th, 2013, day 73 in the expedition, land based coordinator greg spooner san juan, puerto rico, coast guard station. officials had received signals from three emergency beacons. about 350 miles off the puerto rican coast. >> i'm just standing here trying to figure out what's going on and why only three beacons have gone off. where's the fourth? >> reporter: back home their families were frantic awaiting word of their loved ones' fate. then in an amazing maritime rescue played out over ten hours with two different airplanes, the u.s. coast guard saved the day and four lives. >> we were really lucky. there is no fairness with the sea. it doesn't have to give back anything. but we tried. in this case, it did. >> reporter: keith morrison, nbc news, los angeles. >> wow. see more of this story tonight on "dateline" at 7:00, 6:00 central here on nbc. >>> over to dylan on the plaza. >> just a moment ago i was on the plaza with the heritage crew. this is samuel white from water view, maine. >> still to come on "today," riding and roping. two kids show jenna what it