Rescue crews were searching on Thursday in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast southeast of Miami for a passenger that a pilot says fell out of a plane. The pilot reported the incident immediately to the Federal Aviation Administration.
A spokesperson from the FAA said the call from the pilot was received at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday November 14, 2013. The plane at that time had been flying at approximately 2,000 feet when the pilot called.
The Miami-Dade Fire Rescue and Coast Guard water and air unites were out searching an area close to eight miles from the Tamiami Airport, which is south east of Miami, where the plane landed. It was still not known how many were on the plane or where it originated.
The pilot remained calm when the controller asked if he had heard right and the passenger had in fact fallen out.
Both fire rescue and Coast Guard officials said there was no confirmation made if the emergency call from the pilot had been legitimate or not.
The police department in Miami-Dade sent its homicide detectives to the Tamiami Airport to investigate further said one of its spokespersons. Police did not indicate that foul play was involved.
Coast Guard personnel in a small boat as well as in a helicopter were taking part in the search, but a petty officer said they stopped their search around 7 p.m. when it became too dark.
Fire rescue and three of its marine units as well as two aircraft were searching, but it was not known if they were stopping or continuing through the night.
Late Thursday, officials said that no new news was available and that the search would continue at dawn on Friday.
The police will interview the pilot and those on board as well, to get a better understanding of what took place.
