3 From County Rescued From Glacier After Copter Crash : Survivors: Sightseers, rescuers stranded nearly 24 hours in Alaska mishap. Placentia woman suffers broken ankle.

Three Orange County residents survived a blustery night in a makeshift igloo atop an Alaskan glacier after their helicopter crashed, along with two other helicopters attempting to rescue them.

William McIntyre, 72, of Irvine, his son William McIntyre, 40, of Placentia, and Deborah Morgan, 42, also of Placentia, took the ill-fated helicopter tour while on an Alaskan cruise.

They were stranded, along with at least 13 others, for nearly 24 hours on Herbert Glacier, about 20 miles north of Juneau. Temperatures on the 4,500-foot glacier dipped to 25 degrees.

To protect themselves from the icy snow, the group built a snow cave around their downed helicopter. They sipped Gatorade and ate power bars while waiting to be rescued.

Morgan broke her ankle in the crash. She was treated at a Juneau hospital before returning to the Crown Princess cruise ship Saturday afternoon.

No one else was seriously injured, although the elder McIntyre, a retired engineer from Scotland, injured his knee. But that didn’t deter him from pitching in to assist his son, the pilots and the would-be rescuers.

“Willie was out there in great spirits, cheering everyone on, helping them shovel the snow,” said Kirby Day, chief of operations for the Crown Princess cruise lines, which chartered a plane to fly the McIntyres back to the ship 250 miles south of Juneau.

“They were kind of anxious to get back to the ship,” Day said. “They praised the pilot and the Juneau search and rescue crew. They felt very, very fortunate.”

The trio joined Catherine McIntyre, the wife of the elder McIntyre, and Patricia Morgan, a relative of Deborah’s, Saturday afternoon on the cruise ship.

Two other tourists from California were stranded on the glacier--Rhonell Zell, 51, and Richard Zell, 53, of Novato. They huddled with the McIntyres, Morgan, the pilot and rescuers throughout Friday night. By then, the rescuers who crashed trying to save them had hiked in with survival gear, including tents and tea.

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The adventure began as a routine sightseeing flight over Juneau’s spectacular glaciers and ice fields on Friday morning before turning into a search for three downed helicopters in gathering darkness Friday night.

The original helicopter, owned by Temsco Helicopters of Juneau, flipped over in flat lighting conditions that can make distinguishing the glacier from the sky almost impossible.

When the flight failed to return on schedule, the company sent out two more helicopters to search. They both went down more than a mile from the crash site.

A third rescue team headed by Bob Bartholemew of Capital City Fire and Rescue hiked three hours across the ice, using headlamps to see as darkness fell.

The tourists and all 13 rescuers huddled together in two tents after their makeshift igloo began to melt.

At daylight Saturday, with the glacier shrouded in fog and snow, a Coast Guard helicopter hovered and lowered a basket to hoist the six people from the tourist helicopter.

Coast Guard Petty Officer Mark Hunt said the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the accidents.

Worsening weather kept the helicopter from returning, so the rescue team and the four Temsco employees hiked down the glacier, where helicopters picked them up. By 11 a.m., all were back in Juneau.

Aside from Morgan, at least five people were treated at a hospital for cuts and bruises.

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The McIntyres’ neighbors in the University Park section of Irvine said the retired couple were adventurous and loved to travel. The elder William McIntyre, who still had a Scottish brogue despite living in Southern California for more than 25 years, was able to keep up with the neighbors’ 4-year-old daughter--playing hide and seek.

“They’re very low-key and adventurous,” said Michelle Waxman, the McIntyres’ neighbor. “I can see them smiling and laughing about this.”

Waxman’s husband, Matt Marks, said the neighborhood is already planning a welcome-home celebration: “We’re thinking about getting some blocks of ice and putting them out in front of their frontdoor,” Marks said.

Times wire services contributed to this report.