About 36 minutes after splashdown, Carpenter spotted two aircraft. A P2V Neptune from Patrol Squadron 18 flying out of Naval Station Roosevelt Roads was the first to sight and mark Carpenter's position. It was followed by a Piper Apache, which circled and photographed. Carpenter then knew he had been located. They were followed by SC-54 Skymaster aircraft, from one of which parachuted two frogmen, while another dropped a flotation collar which the frogmen attached to "Aurora 7". An Air Force SA-16 Albatross arrived to collect them, but NASA Mission Control forbade it for fear that the seaplane might break up, although the crew did not consider the swell dangerous. After three hours, Carpenter was picked up by a HSS-2 Sea King helicopter which took him to "Intrepid" while "Aurora 7" was recovered by "John R. Pierce".