For five hours, the 11 survivors of a plane crash off the coast of Florida floated on a life raft, with no means of calling for help and no idea if anyone was coming to save them. As a thunderstorm approached, they gathered under a tarp for whatever protection it might offer.
Then, search and rescue crews from the U.S. military appeared overhead, members of those crews recounted during a news conference Wednesday.
“You could tell just by looking at them that they were in distress — physically, mentally and emotionally,” said Air Force Capt. Rory Whipple, a combat rescue specialist who jumped into the water and swam to the survivors. “You have to imagine the emotional injuries that they sustained out there, not knowing if someone was going to rescue them.”
The plane, a Beechcraft 300 King Air turboprop, was on its way from Marsh Harbour, on the Bahamian island of Great Abaco, to Grand Bahama International Airport in Freeport when it suffered engine failure Tuesday, authorities said. The pilot ditched the plane in the water about 50 miles (80 km) off Vero Beach, Florida, and managed to get its 10 passengers, three with minor injuries, onto a yellow life raft.
Air Force Reserve Maj. Elizabeth Piowaty credited those efforts, saying the pilot would have been concerned about ocean swells and slowing the plane as much as safely possible before impact.
“I've not known anyone to survive a ditching in the ocean,” said Piowaty, who commanded a HC-130J Combat King II plane that assisted with the rescue. “From what I've seen, for all those people to survive is pretty miraculous.”
The downed plane's emergency beacon alerted the U.S. Coast Guard to its location. At the time, the Air Force Reserve's 920th Rescue Wing had a crew already airborne conducting a training mission in a HH-60W Jolly Green II helicopter. The crew was redirected to help with the search.
Piowaty said that after locating the survivors, her aircraft passed overhead and dropped a survival kit that included two additional rafts, food and water. The survivors were then able to spread out, and the crew of the HH-60W, including Whipple, was able to hoist them to safety amid 3- to 5-foot (1- to 1.5-m) swells, raising the last survivor just a few minutes before the helicopter would have been forced to refuel.
There was no sign of the downed aircraft, Piowaty said.
All 11 survivors were flown to awaiting emergency medical services at Melbourne Orlando International Airport, authorities said. All were reported to be in stable condition.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said it would investigate the crash.
This photo provided by the U.S. Air Force shows rescue operations underway for survivors of a downed civilian aircraft off the coast of Melbourne, Fla., Tuesday, May 12, 2026. (U.S. Air Force/DVIDS via AP)
Montreal Victoire goalie Ann-Renee Desbiens admitted to experiencing goosebumps at the mere thought of envisioning teammate and captain Marie-Philip Poulin lifting the PWHL Walter Cup championship trophy.
“She is a legend. She’s ‘Captain Clutch,’ the one and only one,” Desbiens said during a Zoom conference call with reporters on Wednesday. “For me to witness that, I would be so lucky as a teammate to have this opportunity to share this moment with her because of everything she’s done, and because of everything she’s still doing.”
Poulin and the Victoire aren’t there yet. But they are preparing to open their best-of-five Walter Cup Finals series, hosting the Ottawa Charge on Thursday night. What’s also true is the Victoire wouldn’t be making their first finals appearance if not for Poulin who, at 35, continues adding to the clutch reputation she earned by scoring three Olympic gold medal-clinching goals.
Despite a lower-body injury limiting her ice time, Poulin delivered two winning goals — including the semifinal series clincher on Tuesday night — in Montreal’s five-game elimination of the two-time defending champion Minnesota Frost. Her other winner came in a 1-0 triple-OT decision in Game 2.
In advancing, the Victoire avoided a repeat of their past two semifinal losses, and became the PWHL’s first higher-seeded team to win a playoff series in the league’s three seasons.
“She is the best player in the world,” Victoire coach Kori Cheverie said, noting Poulin also blocked two shots in the closing minutes of Montreal’s 2-1 Game 5 win. “Our team is so proud of her. And we’re lucky that she’s with us and continues to be a great captain.”
It’s the Charge standing in Montreal’s way in the PWHL’s first all-Canadian title matchup. Ottawa returns to the finals after losing in four games to Minnesota last year.
The fourth-seeded Charge are the more rested team after having been off since a 4-3 double-overtime win over Boston in Game 4 on Sunday.
“I’m really proud of our group that we’re able to make it back here,” Ottawa captain Brianne Jenner said. “It’s not easy to get to this point. We know there’s one step left, and it’s going to be the hardest step.”
The meeting is a rematch of last year’s semifinals, in which the fourth-seeded Charge upset Montreal in four games all decided by one goal. Montreal won this year’s season series by going 3-0-1.
The teams feature two respected leaders in Poulin and Jenner, long-time Team Canada teammates. The goalie matchup pits Desbiens, another Team Canada veteran, facing off against Team USA backup Gwyneth Philips, who was last year’s playoff MVP.
“We were a great team last year, and I think we’re a great team this year,” Charge coach Carla MacLeod said. “We know it’s a fresh go at it, but at the same breath there’s a presence in our room that understands what it’s going to take to try to get this thing done.”
This marks the first PWHL final in which both teams are coached by women, which MacLeod called “a complicated” subject to address in a text to The Associated Press.
“In 2026, it shouldn’t be considered special to have two women coaching in a final. But the reality is, there are only two female coaches in the league, so it still matters,” she wrote.
“The PWHL has helped create a space where women can be seen as leaders in professional sport, and that visibility matters,” MacLeod added. “I hope we get to a place where women coaches are given the same opportunities as men — where their experience is recognized simply as experience, and they're trusted to coach and lead all athletes regardless of gender.
“Good hockey is good hockey. Good coaching is good coaching.”
Philips, Ottawa defender Rory Guilday and Montreal forward Hayley Scamurra have a chance to win a second championship in three months. All three were members of the U.S. gold medal-winning team at the Milan Cortina Games.
“It’s been nice for me to come out of that with the gold medal and ride that momentum and bring positive energy to the team,” said Scamurra, who scored Montreal's winning goal in a 2-1 victory against Minnesota in Game 3. “I’ve just been feeling really confident, honestly, all season, but especially after (winning gold). It’s been fun to play with an edge, and excited to bring that to the finals for the Walter Cup.”
As regular-season champs, the Victoire bucked the standings by choosing third-seeded Minnesota over Ottawa as their semifinal opponent. Now they can’t avoid the Charge.
“I don’t know if anything was about avoiding, because I would say that playing the back-to-back Walter Cup champions is probably just as hard of a competition that we would face,” Cheverie said. “At the end of the day, we said we have to go through everybody if we want to get to where we want to get to.”
AP women’s hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey
Ottawa Charge players celebrate after defeating the Boston Fleet in double overtime to win their PWHL hockey playoff series in Ottawa, Ontario, Sunday, May 10, 2026. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)
Montreal Victoire teammates celebrate after defeating the Minnesota Frost in PWHL playoff hockey action in Laval, Que., on Tuesday, May 12, 2026. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)
Ottawa Charge forward Michela Cava (86) celebrates after her winning goal with defense Ronja Savolainen (88) in the second overtime of Game 4 in a PWHL hockey playoff series against the Boston Fleet in Ottawa, Ontario, Sunday, May 10, 2026. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)
Montreal Victoire's Marie-Philip Poulin (29) celebrates with goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens (35) after defeating the Minnesota Frost in PWHL playoff hockey action in Laval, Que., on Tuesday, May 12, 2026. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)
