Authorities received a distress signal Tuesday morning from a small propeller plane that had made a forced landing at sea. Fortunately, eleven people were able to be rescued after spending several hours clinging to a raft following a plane crash off the coast of Florida in the United States, the U.S. Coast Guard announced on Wednesday.
“They were already in the raft for about five hours. Just by looking at them, you could see they were in distress,” said Rory Whipple, an officer in the Air Force, during a press briefing the next day.
“I don’t know anyone who has survived a forced landing in the ocean,” he added. “They had no means of communication and therefore did not even know we were coming until we were right above them,” he continued. A crew from the nearby Patrick Space Force Base, already in flight for a training exercise, joined the rescuers to locate the group.
In total, 11 Bahamian nationals, all adults, were rescued. An investigation has been opened by the Bahamas into the causes of the accident, which is believed to have been due to an engine failure, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. “I don’t know anyone who has survived a forced landing in the ocean,” stressed Air Force commander Elizabeth Piowaty. “It’s truly miraculous that all these people survived,” she emphasized.
