New video shows the moment rescuers saved three men after they were left treading water when their plane crashed along Florida’s Treasure Coast last weekend.
Officials received a distress call at 8.24 p.m. Sunday from a single-seated Cessna 172 Skyhawk as it plunged into the waters off Vero Beach after the pilot reported engine issues. The aircraft took off from Flagler Executive Airport in Palm Coast, 150 miles to the north, just before 7 p.m.
The alert sparked a multi-agency search and rescue mission. It was the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office helicopter, “Hawk,” that found the three in the water using its thermal imaging and infrared cameras.
Sheriff Eric Flowers said in a press conference Monday that the helicopter pilots were unable to find any visible debris from the crash, describing the rescue mission like “looking for a needle in a haystack” in the middle of the ocean.
Instead of debris, Flowers said that helicopter pilot Deputy Jonathan Lozada eventually noticed “three heads bobbing in the water” around 8.45 p.m.
Lozada told the media that conditions were stacked against the rescue teams.
“It was very dark out there,” he said in a press conference Monday. “Even though we have night vision goggles, we’re still very limited on visibility. So for us to be able to go that far offshore, it's just unsafe for us.”
Lozada said the three passengers might never have been found if more time had elapsed.
At around 9:50 p.m. Sunday, officials from the Air and Marine Operations, an operational component of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, found two survivors in the water, the agency said.
“Coast Guard, Coast Guard, you have two that you’re in contact with. There is one more at about your 11 o’clock. He’s drifting off by himself,” one of the helicopter pilots said in a video of the rescue shared by the sheriff’s office on Facebook.
The third man was pulled out of the water shortly after he was spotted.
Bodycam footage from an Air and Marine Operations agent showed the moment one of the survivors was assisted up to the boat using a rope. The man, who later identified himself as the pilot, stated that only three people had been on board the plane.
“We have three,” he said. “We are three.”
Flowers said that the pilot appeared to be in the worst condition and in the most distress.
The man was recorded screaming as he was transferred to the Coast Guard 45-foot vessel for Emergency Medical Technician evaluation after complaining of “severe rib pain,” according to the CBP.
All three survivors were taken to Coast Guard Station Fort Pierce for further medical treatment. The sheriff's office said the victims are in stable condition.
Assistant Fire Chief Steve Greer of Indian River County Fire Rescue said that the three survivors attempted to swim to shore.
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) are investigating the cause of the crash. A preliminary crash report was expected to be available on Tuesday.
The plane was headed for Vero Beach Municipal Airport and had been due to land around 8:30 p.m. local time.
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