On Thursday 2/1/14 Tasmania Police Search and Rescue were notified of 3 Victorian bushwalkers who had become trapped in the Salisbury River in Southwest Tasmania. The walkers had completed a very difficult walk from Lune River to Vanishing Falls and were then attempting to exit via the New River and New River Lagoon. Due to rising water in the Salisbury River they were forced to wait for 5 days in order to cross but the water level did not drop. The walkers were eventually forced to make an emergency call via satellite phone on Thursday due to diminishing food supplies.

On Friday 3/1/14 the Westpac Rescue Helicopter flew to the scene and conducted a winching operation to extract all 3 bushwalkers. One of the walkers suffered minor injures but did not require hospitalisation.

The walking group was very experienced, well equipped with emergency equipment, calm, and made every attempt to self rescue before contacting emergency services.