Survivors of plane crash off Florida coast were on raft for hours, military says

Local News Survivors of plane crash off Florida coast were on raft for hours, didn't know help was coming, military says By Steven Yablonski Steven Yablonski Steven Yablonski is a digital content producer for CBS Miami and the South region. Read Full Bio Steven Yablonski Updated on: May 13, 2026 / 4:48 PM EDT / CBS Miami Add CBS News on Google Members of the U.S. military who helped to rescue 11 people who were on board a plane that crashed about 80 miles off the east coast of Florida on Tuesday spoke about the dramatic incident and said it was "miraculous" that no major injuries were reported.The nail-biting incident took place about 80 miles off the coast of Melbourne, Florida, which is about 175 miles north of Miami. Military officials said an emergency locator transmitter signal from a twin-engine turboprop airplane had alerted the U.S. Coast Guard Southeast District watchstanders to a potential distress situation around 11 a.m. Tuesday, and a rescue operation was soon launched.At the time the alert was received, a 920th Rescue Wing HH-60W Jolly Green II helicopter crew had already been airborne conducting a training mission at the time and was redirected to assist in the search and rescue effort. This image provided by the Air Force Reserve Command is a bird's eye view of the raft that officials say the survivors were on for hours at the time of the rescue.  DVIDS / Photo by Gwendolyn Kurzen / Air Force Reserve Command A Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater C-27 Spartan aircrew and an HC-130J Combat King II aircrew from Patrick Space Force Base also assisted with the rescue."We got notification from their (Emergency Locator Transmitter) beacon, and that was all the information that was relayed to us at the time," Maj. Elizabeth Piowaty, aircraft commander on the HC-130J Combat King II, said during a news conference Wednesday.She said the ELT sends a signal when there's a potential issue. "It's a certain amount of impact when it hits land or water," Piow...