A lift to safety: New York City Police officers used "Helicopter 23" — named for the 23 officers killed on Sept. 11, 2001 — to rescue six people from rooftops on Staten Island.

Off-duty Officer Artur Kasprzak got six members of his family to safety on Monday, then went to check his home's basement. His body was found there the next day. Also Tuesday, other NYPD officers plucked five adults and a baby off Staten Island roofs.

Heartbreak and heroics on Staten Island in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy:

-- "Police say off-duty Officer Artur Kasprzak, 28, who was assigned to the 1st Precinct in Manhattan, got six members of his family — two men aged 69 and 31, three women aged 68, 31 and 30, and a 15-month-old baby boy — into his attic to escape the rising waters around 7 p.m. Monday," NY1 reports.

Then, after saying he was going to check the basement, Kasprzak wasn't seen again — until his body was found in the home's basement the next day. A cause of death hasn't yet been determined.

-- Using "Helicopter 23," which is named in honor of the 23 New York City Police Department officers who died on Sept. 11, 2001, members of the department's aviation and scuba unit rescued five adults and a child from rooftops on the island Tuesday. Four videos have been posted showing the dramatic moments. In this one, fast forward to about the 5:00 mark to see the rescue.

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