Lady Elliot Island boat capsize: Desperate search for missing man after boat overturned ends in tragedy off Queensland coast near Bundaberg after Life Flight winched a father and son to safety

An extensive search for a man missing after a yacht overturned has ended in tragedy after crews discovered his body at sea.

Emergency services were alerted to the capsize near Lady Elliot Island off the coast of Bundaberg in central Queensland, about 5am on Sunday.

It's believed the keel snapped, causing the vessel to overturn. 

A man, 62 and his son, 27, managed to scramble onto the hull of the overturned boat to activate an emergency beacon.

The pair were winched to safety by the RACQ LifeFlight Rescue helicopter crew about 10.15am, almost two hours after the search was launched.

Another crew member, a man, 65, from Yeppoon remained unaccounted for.

After hours of searching, water police located the body of the 65-year-old man just after 2pm. 

The vessel was travelling between Yeppoon and Brisbane over the weekend when its keel - the flat blade at the bottom of the boat snapped.

Footage from the LifeFlight helicopter shows the overturned boat about four nautical miles - 7.4km - from land.

A statement from LifeFlight revealed they launched the helicopter about 8.30am and located the men clinging to the side of the vessel two hours later.

The father and son winched up to safety in the chopper after spending over five hours in the water.

They were airlifted to Bundaberg Hospital in stable conditions.

All three men are believed to be experienced sailors.  

The tragic death comes after three people died when their boat overturned during wild storms on Boxing Day last year.

The three men, Robert Holden, David Logan and Stephen Tait, were on an annual fishing trip in Brisbane's Moreton Bay when they encountered the horrific weather.

While eight others onboard were rescued, the bodies of Mr Logan, Mr Tait and Mr Holden were only able to be recovered in the destructive storm's aftermath.