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A plane carrying 11 people crashed off Melbourne, Florida, the Coast Guard announced Wednesday.
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All of the passengers survived the crash, which occurred roughly 80 miles from the Florida coast Tuesday, according to officials.
The passengers, all Bahamian adults, were stranded at sea for roughly five hours, according to one of the survivors, Olympia Outten. They were rescued by the Air Force.
\u201cWe thought no one would have saw us. But I thank God for the U.S. Marine. They saw us, and they save us,\u201d Outten said at a news conference Thursday. \u201cAnd I thought, I keep on telling them, I say, \u2018Lord, save us. Lord, save us. Let someone see us.\u2019\u201d
The civilian aircraft, a Beechcraft BE30, was flying from Marsh Harbour, Bahamas, to Freeport, officials said.
An emergency locator transmitter signal from the plane alerted the Coast Guard around 11 a.m. ET, officials said.
An Air Force combat helicopter crew was already airborne, conducting a routine training mission, when the alert was received, and the crew was asked to redirect to assist the search-and-rescue effort, the Air Force said in a news release.
\u201cWe are proud to have played a role in bringing 11 people home safely,\u201d Air Force Col. Chadd Bloomstine said in a statement.
The passengers were taken to Melbourne Orlando International Airport, where emergency medical personnel were waiting for them.
Dr. Scott Zenoni said at the news conference that the passengers had various injuries, including broken bones and lacerations, but were all in stable condition.
Authorities said that the plane\u2019s engine failed and that Bahamian authorities are investigating the case.
Outten suggested that her niece, who was also on board, suspected that the plane\u2019s engine wasn\u2019t working.
\u201cShe noticed the motors wasn\u2019t moving anymore, and she told him,\u201d Outten said. \u201cShe said, the best thing to do is to put the plane down in the water.\u201d
Outten said that the pilot was \u201calright\u201d after the crash, but that he was \u201cin a trance.\u201d
\u201cHe can\u2019t believe this happens, after it happened,\u201d she said. \u201cThen he said he\u2019s not going to fly anymore.\u201d
Matt Lavietes is a reporter for NBC News.
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