Five people — including an eight-month-old baby — survived a light plane crash in the Bahamas late Monday and were rescued after drifting in a life raft for almost three hours, officials said.
Their single-engine Cessna took off from Crooked Island and ditched in waters near New Providence, southeast of Nassau, shortly before sunset, the Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) said.
A joint search was launched at about 7:30 p.m. ET using an RBDF patrol boat assisted by a U.S. Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter.
"At approximately 10:20 p.m. ... 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 Coast Guard said in a news release. The Royal Bahamian Defence Force arrived on scene, safely embarked the five people and transported them back to the Bahamas.”
Pilot Anthiqueko Gibson, 26, was rescued along with passengers Lorenzo Moss, 47, Autoria Moss, 27, Andre Gibson, 22 and Andrew Gibson, 8 months, the RBDF said. They are all Bahamanian nationals.
“All passengers appeared to be in good health," the RBDF said in a statement.
There was no information immediately available about the cause of the crash.