Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Cessna 172 plane crashes in the Bahamas. Coast Guard locates survivors of downed aircraft southeast of Bahamas





SEATTLE - An HH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Astoria, Ore., flies around Elliott Bay near downtown Seattle during a search and rescue demonstration. USCG photo by PA3 Adam Eggers 


MIAMI, FLORIDA

Coast Guard rescue crews located five survivors from a downed aircraft nine nautical miles southeast of Nassau, Bahamas Monday evening.

At approximately 7:30 p.m., air traffic controllers in Nassau contacted watchstanders at the Coast Guard 7th District command center to assist in the search of a downed single engine Cessna aircraft with five people reportedly aboard. The watchstanders launched a deployed Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew to search alongside the Royal Bahamian Defence Force.
The aircraft was reported to have taken off from Crooked Islands, Bahamas, en route to Nassau.

At approximately 10:20 p.m., the watchstanders at the command center received a report from the aircrew aboard the MH-60 aircraft that they located the five people floating on a life raft approximately nine nautical miles southeast of Nassau. The Royal Bahamian Defence Force arrived on scene, safely embarked the five people and transported them back to the Bahamas.

There were no reported injuries.

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Five plane crash survivors were rescued Monday night in Bahamas, the U.S. Coast Guard crew confirmed in a news release. The crew had spotted them floating on a life raft in southeast of Nassau, capital of Bahamas.

Search and rescue team located the survivors around 10:20 p.m. local time, nearly three hours after the single engine Cessna 172 aircraft crashed into the sea. The aircraft was flying from Crooked Islands, Bahamas, to Nassau, according to the release.

The watch standers, upon being alerted by the Coast Guard about the crash, deployed an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew to search alongside the Royal Bahamian Defense Force. The rescued people were transported back to the Bahamas. Among the survivors was one child and no casualties were reported, the release stated. Only five people, including the pilot, were aboard the small aircraft.

The pilot had reported engine problems before abandoning the plane in the sea, the Tribune, a local daily, quoted Bahamas' Transport and Aviation Minister Glenys Hanna Martin as saying.

According to Chris Lloyd, operations manager of Bahamas Air Sea and Rescue, the pilot made the distress call around 7:23 p.m. He told the Tribune that the search teams were clear about the crash location, which helped them speed up the rescue efforts. Lloyd added that favorable weather conditions aided the persons on board to exit the plane safely.


Date:08-JUN-2015
Time:07:30 p.m.
Type:Silhouette image of generic C172 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different
Cessna 172
Owner/operator:Private
Registration:
C/n / msn:
Fatalities:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 5
Other fatalities:0
Airplane damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location:Bahamas -   Bahamas
Phase: En route
Nature:Private
Departure airport:Crooked Islands, Bahamas
Destination airport:Nassau, Bahamas
Narrative:
The plane crashed en route into the sea, obviously due to a technical malfunction.
All five occupants were rescued by the US Coast Guard.

Sources: http://www.kissrocks.com/news/news/national/4-adults-1-child-rescued-after-ocean-plane-crash-n/nmYhK/
http://www.ibtimes.com/us-coast-guard-rescues-4-adults-1-child-after-plane-crash-bahamas-1957864