‘Miracle on the Gulf’: 4 rescued after small plane lands in water

Four people were pulled from the Gulf after their plane landed in the water. They were all lucky to be found by rescuers who were at the right place at the right time.

The plane took off from Fort Myers originally, with one of the couples being from the area. We spoke to them about the amazing rescue, what they call the miracle on the Gulf.

“We were very lucky that day,” survivor Diane Murphy said. “We love the skies to pieces.”

Gary and Diane murphy, Nancy Reinke and a fourth passenger were flying to Marathon when the plane engine started sputtering and stopped.

Gary was able to safely land the plane in the water.

“We knew that we had a job to do, and we had to stay calm, and it was like our mission,” Reinke said. “We need to stay calm, follow Gary’s instructions and do what we gotta do to get out and survive.”

“We had angels with us, and we had angels coming to save us,” Diane said.

Those came in the form of two Miami-Dade police officers, a Hialeah firefighter and three pilots all camping in the area on vacation. All of them saw the plane hit the water.

“Another miracle. Because had they decided not to go to the campsite,” Gary explained. “They wouldn’t have been anywhere near us, and they wouldn’t have seen the plane go down.”

Their heroes pulled them out of the water and brought them safely to shore.

To show their appreciation, all four survivors are hosting a thank you party for their six heroes in Fort Lauderdale next month.

“Everything worked out for us,” Gary said. “We had some miracle on the Gulf, and we also had someone looking over top of us.”