11 Plane Survivors Rescued After 5 Hours Adrift Off Florida

Eleven survivors of a small plane crash endured five hours adrift on a life raft in the Atlantic Ocean off Florida's coast before U.S. military rescuers hoisted them to safety Tuesday, authorities recounted at a news conference the following day.

The Beechcraft 300 King Air turboprop departed Marsh Harbour on Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas bound for Grand Bahama International Airport in Freeport. Around 12:05 p.m., the pilot reported engine failure, declared an emergency and then lost communication, according to the Bahamas Aircraft Accident Investigation Authority. The aircraft ditched about 50 miles east of Vero Beach Regional Airport, and the pilot evacuated all 10 passengers onto a yellow life raft. Three passengers sustained minor injuries.

With no way to call for help, the group huddled under a tarp as a thunderstorm neared. The plane's emergency locator transmitter beacon alerted the U.S. Coast Guard, which launched a C-27 search aircraft. Serendipitously, an Air Force Reserve crew from the 920th Rescue Wing, airborne on a training mission in an HH-60W Jolly Green II helicopter out of Patrick Space Force Base, was redirected to the scene.