January 8, 2012 - Coast Guard crews, and partner agencies respond to a downed single engine Cirrus type aircraft with two people aboard in the waters approximately 2 miles west of Andros, Bahamas, Saturday. Richard McGlaughlin, 59, and Elaine McGlaughlin, 25, made a distress call over the radio stating their aircraft was going down due to engine trouble and required immediate assistance.  

Search-and-rescue coordinators at the 7th Coast Guard District command center in Miami received the report of a downed aircraft at about 12:15 p.m. Saturday from air traffic control tower personnel at Miami Center of Aircraft Emergency.  

Reports to the Coast Guard indicated the aircraft was going down due to engine trouble and the two passengers aboard Richard McGlaughlin, 59, and Elaine McGlaughlin, 25, from Birmingham, Ala. were requesting assistance. 

An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew and a HC-144 Ocean Sentry fixed-wing aircraft crew deployed to the Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center (AUTEC) launched and assisted in the search for the down aircraft.  

At approximately 12:30 p.m. the fixed-wing aircraft crew located the downed aircraft and Richard and Elaine in an inflatable raft. The rescue helicopter crew arrived on scene at 12:58 p.m. and safely hoisted the two survivors onto the aircraft and transferred them to Odyssey Airport in Nassau, Bahamas for further transport to EMS crew for medical evaluation. There were not medical injuries reported.