The plane was heading from Marsh Harbour, in the Bahamas’ Abaco Islands, to Freeport, Grand Bahama.
With nowhere to land, the Bahamian pilot “ditched” the aircraft in waters roughly 175 miles (289km) north of Miami – a last-resort intentionally executed manoeuvre when no other options are possible.
“Once I hit the water, my first thought was: ‘We didn’t die,'” Nixon said.
What followed was an hours-long ordeal on a life raft, as the pilot and the passengers waited for rescuers to find them.
Nixon tried to keep spirits up.
“I told them: ‘In the next 10 minutes, a plane is going to come,'” he said. “Then one of the passengers said: ‘Hold on, did I hear something?'”
It was the distant sound of a helicopter from the US Air Force 920th Rescue Wing.
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