SAILORS ESCORT A RESCUED RESIDENT OF FRENCH GUADALUPE ON THE FLIGHT DECK OF THE AMPHIBIOUS ASSAULT SHIP USS WASP FOLLOWING A SEARCH AND RESCUE MISSION. (PHOTO CREDIT: US NAVY)

ROSEAU, Dominica, Friday September 29, 2017 – Two men were rescued by the US Navy yesterday after their private plane crashed off Dominica’s coast.

Commander Mike Kafka, a spokesman for Fleet Forces Command said the USS Wasp, the Navy amphibious assault ship that is assisting with relief efforts off the Eastern Caribbean island battered by Hurricane Maria – was contacted by the French Coast Guard that the civilian Cessna with two people on board was reported to be going down in the Caribbean Sea.

The plane crashed around 1:30 p.m.

A helicopter from USS Wasp located the two passengers, one from Guadeloupe and the other from Antigua, around 5:30 p.m. after a 45-minute search.

The Navy said the men, both in their early 50s, were treated aboard the US Navy ship.

Kafka said the men were “in good condition” and were “mostly dehydrated”.