Five rescued after Bahamas plane crash

DANIA BEACH, Fla., June 9 (UPI) -- Four adults and an infant were rescued from a life raft in the Atlantic Ocean after a single-engine plane crashed in the Bahamas late Monday.

The Royal Bahamas Defence Force reported in a press release at 2:11 a.m. Tuesday that the plane was believed to have taken off from Crooked Island, located in the southeastern region of the Bahamas. It was headed for New Providence.

The Cessna crash-landed in the water nine nautical miles from Nassau, Bahamas' capital.

According to the U.S. Coast Guard, the search for the downed aircraft began Monday evening.

#HappeningNow Coast Guard searching for downed aircraft SE of Nassau, bahamas, with 5 people aboard.

— USCGSoutheast (@USCGSoutheast) June 9, 2015

For more than two hours, a joint search between the Royal Bahamian Defense Force and the U.S. Coast Guard ensued. The Bahamians deployed a fast patrol craft, P-128, manned by Petty Officer Peter Thompson. It was joined by a U.S. MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter and an Operation Bahamas Turks and Caicos (OPBAT) helicopter.

The OPBAT helicopter sighted the life raft with the victims onboard and transported them to Coral Harbour Base, where an ambulance was standing by.

At 8:06 p.m., the Coast Guarded posted to Twitter that all five passengers had been found.

#HappeningNow Coast Guard finds all 5 people who were aboard downed aircraft SE of Bahamas floating in life raft.

— USCGSoutheast (@USCGSoutheast) June 9, 2015

No injuries were reported, and Bahamian authorities said the survivors have relatives who are members of the Defence Force.

At 5:02 a.m., Bahamian media outlet The Eleutheran posted images of the plane crash victims.

The passengers were identified as pilot Anthiqueko Gibson, 26; Lorenzo Moss, 47; Autoria Moss, 27; Andre Gibson, 22; and Andrew Gibson, 8 months.

The cause of the crash had not been determined.