10 rescued after small plane crashes off Florida coast near Vero Beach, Coast Guard says

Ten people were rescued Tuesday after a small aircraft crashed about 50 miles off the coast of Vero Beach, Florida, according to the U.S. Coast Guard and the Federal Aviation Administration.

The U.S. Coast Guard Southeast said in a social media post at 3 p.m. that a Coast Guard aircraft was launched to search for the downed plane after reports of the crash.

"Reportedly, all 10 people are accounted for & are being brought to EMS for further eval," the Coast Guard said on X. Officials added that the cause of the crash remains under investigation.

According to CBS News, the survivors were transported to Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne for evaluation.

The FAA said the aircraft was a Beechcraft BE30 that crashed into the ocean about 50 miles east of Vero Beach Regional Airport around 12:05 p.m. Tuesday. According to the FAA, the flight departed from Marsh Harbour Airport and was headed to Grand Bahama International Airport. Ten people were confirmed on board.

The Bahamas Aircraft Accident Investigation Authority said the pilot declared an emergency while enroute before communication was lost with air traffic control. The agency said U.S. Coast Guard crews later located the downed aircraft off the coast of Fort Pierce and rescued all 10 people on board.

Officials in the Bahamas also said three people suffered injuries.

An official with the Royal Bahamas Defence Force told CBS News that Bahamian authorities assisted with coordinating the rescue effort but did not deploy any assets to the scene.

"Our role was to assist with the coordination of the rescue effort," the official said. "We did not physically assist through the use of our assets. U.S. authorities were able to rescue the passengers in a timely manner due to their proximity to the United States."

A source briefed on the investigation told CBS News that they are looking into whether there was possible engine failure that led to the crash. They said that they weren't able to steer or turnaround and had to fly forward until they crashed, which explains why they are so far off their original course, which was originally a 20-minute flight. 

The FAA said it will investigate the crash.