Eleven people survived a plane crash at sea and then spent five harrowing hours in a raft before they were plucked to safety during a “miraculous” rescue, officials said Wednesday.
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The craft went down about 80 miles from Melbourne on Tuesday and all 11 people on board “are accounted for,” according to a Coast Guard statement.
“And from what I’ve seen, I mean, for all those people to survive is pretty miraculous,” Air Force Maj. Elizabeth Piowaty told reporters on Wednesday.
A team of Air Force reservists were training in the area when they got word of a possible downed flight and headed to the scene to find survivors in a raft, Piowaty said.
“They had already been in the water, in the raft, for about five hours and you could tell just by looking at them that they were in distress, physically, mentally, emotionally,” Capt. Rory Whipple said.
The survivors had no way to communicate or call for help — but fortunately their emergency locator transmitter (ELT) beacon led rescuers to the scene, according to Piowaty.
“They didn’t even know that we were coming until we were directly overhead,” Whipple said. “So you have to imagine the emotional injuries that they sustained out there and not knowing if someone’s going to rescue them.”
The survivors were taking shelter under a tarp to protect themselves from the elements before rescuers dropped food and supplies to tide them over.
“They were able to spread out their food and water and some basic survival tools,” Piowaty said. “So giving them that extra hope that we were overhead and we were going to provide rescue for them, I’m sure, was a great relief.”
The airmen had no idea they’d be executing a dramatic rescue when they woke up on Tuesday morning.
“So for us, it’s just another day of work, another day of training,” Whipple said. “But it’s not training. It was real world. So we just locked in and did what we had to do to make sure everyone came home in one piece.”
The airmen on Tuesday fought both choppy waters and “bingo time,” the point when rescuers would be forced to either re-fuel in the air or head back to base for fuel, Lt. Col. Matt Johnson.
“All of us deployed together in previous times on active duty as well,” Johnson said of his fellow rescuers. “We know our job is efficient and expeditious, pick up of the survivors and get them back to higher medical care, and then let the those doctors fix them up.”
Whipple said he was grateful for the chance to make a difference on Tuesday.
“As a reserve airman, I truly believe that we have the best job in the world,” he said. “On someone’s worst day we’re at our best, bringing everyone home. And then at the end of the day, as a reserve airman, we get to go home to our families as well.”
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