Trio Spent More Than 12 Hours In The Water

Coast Guard rescuers found three people who's small plane went down in the Gulf of Mexico clinging to a lobster pot buoy more than 12 hours after their plane disappeared from radar while traveling south from Tampa.

The two men and a woman were found five miles southwest of Cape Sable, Florida, the southernmost point of the U.S. mainland. Their names were not immediately released.

The Miami Herald reports that Miami ATC contacted the Coast Guard about a single-engine aircraft losing altitude over the water due to an engine problem about 2130 Friday night. The overnight search covered about 2,200 square miles of the Gulf, and involved a C-130 an HU-25 Falcon jet, along with several boats and helicopters.

A small Coast Guard vessel found the three clinging to the buoy about 1000 Saturday, according to a USCG spokesperson.  Lt. j.g. Matthew Meinhold said they had fashioned a raft out of two personal floatation devices, and had managed to make it to the lobster buoy. Staying together made them easier to locate in the water, he said.

"They did the right thing," said Petty Officer 3rd Class Barry Bena. They held on to an object that helped them all stay afloat for the amount of time they did. It was very lucky for them that it turned out as well as it did."

FMI: www.uscg.mil