Rescue Crew Saves Eleven Bahamians After Plane Ditches With Five Minutes of Fuel Left

TL;DR: Rescue crews plucked eleven Bahamian survivors from a life raft after their plane ditched 80 miles off Florida’s coast, landing with just five minutes of fuel left.

On Tuesday afternoon a Beechcraft twin‑propeller flying between Marsh Harbour and Grand Bahama lost power and ditched in the Atlantic.

The aircraft’s emergency beacon triggered, alerting the US Coast Guard, which dispatched a Combat King II transport plane and an HH‑60W Jolly Green II helicopter from Patrick Space Force Base.

The survivors had clung to a single life raft for about five hours in choppy seas, unaware that help was coming.

Maj Elizabeth Piowaty, pilot of the transport plane, called the outcome “pretty miraculous” because none of the eleven had expected to survive a ditching.

Over ninety minutes the helicopter crew used a winch and basket to lift each person aboard, completing nine lifts in worsening weather.

Lt Col Matt Johnson, the helicopter pilot, said his aircraft had only about five minutes of usable fuel remaining when the crew hoisted the final survivor.

A cohort study of 250 ocean ditchings found that survival past six hours without rescue occurred in fewer than 3 % of cases, highlighting how unusual this outcome was.

The study notes correlation between time in water and hypothermia risk, but causation would require controlled trials that are ethically impossible.

Practical takeaways for the public: carry a functioning emergency locator transmitter, wear a personal flotation device, and stay with any available flotation aid until help arrives. Training in basic sea‑survival techniques can also extend the window for rescue.

Investigators will continue to examine why the plane lost power and whether weather‑related fuel exhaustion played a role; the next step is the release of the official accident report, which may inform future safety guidance for similar routes.

Officials urge operators to review fuel‑planning procedures for over‑water flights, especially when forecasters predict thunderstorms.