Authorities received a distress signal from a small propeller plane that had made a forced landing in the water. Luckily, eleven people were able to be rescued after spending several hours clinging to a raft, having “miraculously” survived the plane crash off the coast of Florida in the United States, announced American coastguards on Wednesday.
“They were already in the raft for about five hours. It was enough to look at them to see that they were in distress,” said Rory Whipple, an officer in the air force, the following day at a press conference.
“I don’t know anyone who has survived a forced water landing in the ocean,” he added. “They had no means of communication and therefore did not even know we were coming before we were right above them,” he added. A crew from the nearby Patrick Space Force Base joined the rescuers to locate the group, who were on a training exercise flight.
In total, 11 Bahamian nationals, all adults, were rescued. An investigation has been opened by the Bahamas into the causes of the accident, which was attributed to an engine failure by the American coastguards. “I don’t know anyone who has survived a forced water landing in the ocean,” emphasized Air Force commander Elizabeth Piowaty. “The fact that all these people survived is truly miraculous,” she insisted.
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