A plane carrying 11 people crashed off Melbourne, Florida, the Coast Guard announced Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All of the passengers survived the crash, which occurred roughly 80 miles from the Florida coast Tuesday, according to officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\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<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The civilian aircraft, a Beechcraft BE30, was flying from Marsh Harbour, Bahamas, to Freeport, officials said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An emergency locator transmitter signal from the plane alerted the Coast Guard around 11 a.m. ET, officials said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are proud to have played a role in bringing 11 people home safely,\u201d Air Force Col. Chadd Bloomstine said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The passengers were taken to Melbourne Orlando International Airport, where emergency medical personnel were waiting for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Authorities said that the plane\u2019s engine failed and that Bahamian authorities are investigating the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Outten suggested that her niece, who was also on board, suspected that the plane\u2019s engine wasn\u2019t working.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\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<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Outten said that the pilot was \u201calright\u201d after the crash, but that he was \u201cin a trance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe can\u2019t believe this happens, after it happened,\u201d she said. \u201cThen he said he\u2019s not going to fly anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n