Two men aged in their 50s have been winched to safety from a sinking life raft, after the light plane they were in crashed off the Mooloolaba coast.
The Sunshine Coast-based RACQ LifeFlight Rescue helicopter crew came to the rescue after it was tasked to the site about 35 nautical miles offshore just after 9am.
The crew spotted the Cessna’s tail and then saw two men floating close by.
One of them was inside a small life raft, which was starting to sink, and the other clinging to the edge of it.
They gave a thumbs up to the crew as they approached.
RACQ LifeFlight Rescue aircrew officer Dan King winched the rescue basket down and lifted the men up into the helicopter, one at a time.
They were inside the helicopter within minutes of it arriving at the scene.
RACQ LifeFlight Rescue helicopter pilot Andrew Caton said they were able to locate the men relatively quickly.
“Our response was so fast that we reached the crash site within minutes of them ditching, before their aircraft had disappeared completely under water,” he said.
“We could still see part of the wreckage. It made them easier to locate and rescue safely.
“Certainly, training and experience all come into being successfully piece together a complex rescue mission like this one.”
Aircrew Officer Dan King was delighted to see both men were okay.
“It’s not every day that you are tasked to a light plane that has confirmed that it knew it was going to ditch,” he said.
“We knew we were going to a plane that had ditched into the ocean, but we had no idea what to expect.
“Fortunately as we approached, we could see the men and the life raft.”
The plane had left Sunshine Coast Airport and was bound for Atlanta, with numerous planned stops on the way.
It is believed the Cessna 421C began having engine problems.
The pilot turned the aircraft around but when he realised they weren’t going to make it back to land, he started to dump fuel and called for help just minutes before ditching.
A Royal Flying Doctor Service fixed wing aircraft was nearby and shadowed the stricken Cessna, keeping authorities informed as the plane went down and the rescue chopper responded.
The men were airlifted to Sunshine Coast University Hospital, under the care of the Queensland Ambulance Service Flight Paramedic, for assessment but reportedly had no major injuries.
The men – aged 59 and 51 – were understandably in good spirits when they were winched from the sea.
“They were very excited and very happy to be alive,” Queensland Ambulance Services’ Michael O’Brien told reporters.
The men were heading for the Solomon Islands when their Cessna lost one of its two engines, forcing them to attempt a “controlled ditching” into the sea, Mr O’Brien said.
The tail of the crashed Cessna was still bobbing in the water nearby when the helicopter approached.
Minutes later the plane completely submerged, and the raft looked set to join it.
“That life raft was slowly being submerged by water,” said Mr O’Brien, a critical care paramedic.
He said it was “super incredible” that both men emerged unscathed.
“You don’t generally find an aircraft accident where there’s no injuries,” he said.
The rescue went “seamlessly” in what were described as relatively calm conditions.
“It’s a great outcome. We are super delighted that they both survived,” Mr O’Brien said.
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