11 Bahamian passengers rescued after crash leaves them adrift for hours

For about five hours, 11 Bahamian adults sat in a life raft in rough water off Florida, with no way to call for help and no idea rescue crews were already searching for them. Their twin-engine turboprop had left Marsh Harbour, Bahamas, bound for Freeport on a short regional hop when it went down about 80 miles off Melbourne on Tuesday, May 12, 2026.

The emergency came into focus around 11 a.m., when an emergency locator transmitter alerted watchstanders that people aboard the aircraft were in distress. The Coast Guard launched a search as a C-27 and a Patrick Space Force Base HC-130J, already airborne on a training mission, joined the effort over the Atlantic Ocean. Rescuers eventually spotted both the wrecked aircraft and the raft, ending a tense search over open water.

The survivors had endured the hours adrift without communication, and officials said they did not know help was coming until aircraft were directly overhead. Before the hoist, rescuers dropped food, water and basic survival supplies to the group, a small but crucial bridge between the crash and recovery. An Air Force Reserve 920th Rescue Wing HH-60W helicopter then lifted all 11 survivors from the raft.

Officials said the passengers were Bahamian adults who were listed in stable condition after being flown to Melbourne Orlando International Airport. Air Force Maj. Elizabeth Piowaty described the outcome as “pretty miraculous,” a judgment shaped by the distance from shore, the rough water and the length of time the group survived with no ability to signal for help after the crash.

Coast Guard officials said the aircraft was reportedly lost to engine failure, and Bahamian authorities are expected to investigate the cause. The flight was supposed to be a short one, but the rescue exposed how quickly a routine inter-island trip can become an emergency when a plane goes down over water and survival depends on rescue gear, locator systems and the speed of a coordinated response.