MIAMI — The Coast Guard, partner agencies, and a good Samaritan responded to a plane crash approximately 3 miles north of Marathon, Florida, Tuesday.
Sector Key West command center watchstanders received notification from Air Traffic Control Key West at approximately 2:30 p.m., notifying them of a downed aircraft near Marathon.
The watchstanders launched a Coast Guard Station Marathon rescue crew to the scene to assist and put out an urgent marine information broadcast alerting mariners in the vicinity. Partners from Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission and Monroe County Sheriff’s Office also responded.
At 2:50 p.m., the boatcrew located the single-engine, fixed-wing aircraft crash site, where the only person on the aircraft was located aboard a good Samaritan's vessel.
The Marathon crew transferred the man aboard their boat and transported him to awaiting emergency medical services personnel at Coast Guard Station Marathon.
Coast Guard pollution responders are monitoring the scene and commercial salvage operators are determining appropriate actions to address the wreckage.
"Massive thank you and a job well done to the good Samaritan that assisted in this rescue," said Petty Officer 2nd Class Timothy Worthen, a Coast Guard Station Marathon coxswain. "This individual's life was saved due to their actions."