Florida crew recounts miraculous' Atlantic plane rescue with fuel low

"Members of the 920th rescue wing, based at Patrick Space Force base, not far from Cape Canaveral, raced on Tuesday to reach the passengers and crew in choppy seas. They had emerged from a small Beechcraft twin-propeller aircraft that ditched into the water about 80 miles east of Melbourne on Florida's east coast. By the time their rescuers arrived, in a Combat King II transport plane and a HH-60W Jolly Green II helicopter, the survivors all Bahamian adults had been packed into the only tiny life raft they had, for about five hours."

"Over almost an hour and a half, using a winch and basket, the helicopter crew made nine lifts in choppy seas to get all the survivors onboard, then fly them to waiting ambulances at Melbourne airport. Lt Col Matt Johnson, who piloted the helicopter, revealed that his aircraft had only about five minutes of available fuel remaining for the rescue operation when the last of those in the raft was hoisted up."

"He told reporters that moment was bingo time, a colloquial military term for the hard time that we need to leave the scene and go back because we're low on gas. His helicopter, he said, had the capability of in-flight refueling if we exceeded our bingo fuel and we're running low, but the operation would have delayed getting the survivors, some of whom needed urgent medical attention, to shore. We did not need to do that."

"I've not known anyone to survive ditching in the ocean, Maj Elizabeth Piowaty, the transport plane's pilot, told a press conference at the base on Wednesday. And from what I've seen, for all those people to survive is pretty miraculous, and then get in the raft all together. Over almost an hour and a half, using a winch and basket, the helicopter crew made nine lifts in choppy seas to get all the survivors onboard, then fly them to waiting ambulances at Melbourne airport."

A Beechcraft twin-propeller aircraft ditched into the Atlantic about 80 miles east of Melbourne, Florida. A 920th rescue wing crew from Patrick Space Force Base raced to reach the survivors in choppy seas. The 11 Bahamian adults had been packed into a single small life raft for about five hours, with no plane or wreckage visible. Rescue teams arrived using a Combat King II transport plane and a HH-60W Jolly Green II helicopter. Over about an hour and a half, the helicopter crew completed nine winch-and-basket lifts to bring everyone aboard. The helicopter then flew the survivors to ambulances at Melbourne airport. The helicopter had roughly five minutes of fuel left when the last person was hoisted, avoiding the need for in-flight refueling.

Read at www.theguardian.com