Police: Small plane crash lands in water off the Bahamas, all 6 aboard rescued by boats

Boats rescue 6 from plane that crashed off Bahamas

NASSAU, Bahamas — Rescuers in boats saved six people, including two children and a pregnant woman, who were found clinging to the wreckage of a small plane that crash landed Monday in waters off the Bahamas.

The twin-engine Piper Aztec went down about 3 miles (5 kilometers) from Grand Bahama Island after one of its engines failed, said Jamie Rose of the Bahamas Air Sea Rescue Association.

The passengers were holding on to the floating tail section of the plane when Rose arrived in response to their distress call.

“They were still pretty shell shocked,” Rose said. “Once we got them on the boat, and we started running toward shore, they were saying, ‘We just survived a plane crash.’”

He said the six, including two children and a woman who is six months pregnant, were all Bahamian and none appeared to have injuries worse than cuts and bruises.

The plane was flying a short distance from Walker’s Cay at the northern tip of the island chain to Grand Bahama when it went down, said Melvin Lundy, a Bahamas police superintendent.