A team from a U.S. base in Arizona undertook a six-hour flight and a mid-air refueling to complete a rescue mission over the weekend.<br /> <br />Eleven Chinese seamen were found floating in a life-raft over 1000 miles off the coast of Mexico on May 3.<br /> <br />A Venezuelan fishing vessel picked up the men, several who were seriously burned, and sent out a request for help.<br /> <br />Airmen from the 563rd Rescue Group in Arizona were dispatched while the Arizona Air National Guard provided an in-flight refueling to speed up the mission.<br /> <br />The U.S. rescuers parachuted into the water, inflated a life-raft and climbed aboard the Venezuelan ship to provide medical assistance. <br /> <br />On Sunday, the U.S. personnel are scheduled to return to Mexico and then the U.S. Two badly burned Chinese sailors are to be flown to a burn center in San Diego. Two of the seriously burned men, however, have reportedly already died from their injuries<br /> <br />A spokeswoman at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona praised the state's National Air Guard for its assistance in providing the mid-air refueling.
