(WSVN) - A plane crash survivor is speaking out about the miracle on the water after she and 10 others were rescued after their plane came down in the Atlantic.
With tears in her eyes, Olympia Outten recounted her plea to be rescued after the small private plane crash landed off Vero Beach on Tuesday.
“They saw us, and they saved us, and I keep on telling them, I say, lord, save us, lord, save us. Let someone see us, lord, let someone see us,” she said.
She said that, upon the plane’s crash, those on board jumped into life rafts and spent hours at sea while they waited for help to arrive.
“Everybody got in the boat. It was 11 of us. We were out there for five hours. We were in a little storm. No reams beating on us. We thought no one would have seen us, but I thank God,” she said.
Outten calls the rescue mission nothing short of a miracle.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the Beechcraft 300 King Air took off from Marsh Harbor in the Bahamas bound for Grand Bahama International Airport.
Rescue teams said that when the plane went down, the emergency locator beacon sent out a warning.
“We got a notification from the tower that there was a possible downed aircraft. We set up a search pattern, and within minutes we located the raft.”
U.S. Air Force Capt. Rory Whipple recounted the moments he saw the victims.
“You can tell just by looking at them, yeah, they were in distress, physically, mentally, emotionally,” he said.
The U.S. Coast Guard and Air Force sent teams in, including an HC-130 rescue aircraft on a nearby training mission.
Outten says when the crash happened, she remembers being trapped and thinking it was already too late.
“I was trapped because I still had my seatbelt on. I get into the wall, so my son said, ‘Mommy, let’s go, come, go, come, go.’ I said, ‘I can’t move.’ I said, ‘trapped.’ And he turned back. He came back, and he unloosed the seatbelt, and I went to the door, and when I went to the door, I stood still at the door cause I thought he was dead, because honestly, there was more dark water around us,” she said.
All 11 people were rescued from the crashed plane after rescuers delivered more equipment and jumped into the water to help during the mission.
“For all those people to survive is pretty miraculous, and then get in the raft altogether,” said Piowaty.
Outten said her prayers for rescue were answered.
“All I was saying, I was praying and asking God to send someone for us,” she said.
As of late Thursday afternoon, the crash is still being investigated by Bahamian authorities.
The U.S. Coast Guard said the plane reported experiencing engine failure when it came down.
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