The Coast Guard was called onto a cruise ship in the Caribbean to help rescue victims of a small plane crash

The plane crashed 23 miles southeast of Grand Turk Island in the Turks and Caicos region around noon Tuesday.

The Regal Princess cruise ship was on its way to St Thomas. They changed course and deployed a small boat to rescue the two people who survived the crash.

Cruise passenger Stacey Hernandez from Vernon Hills spoke to WGN News and said she thought it was a drill.

“The captain announced over the PA ‘Man overboard!’” she said. “He told us that there was a small plane that went down.”

The survivors were found floating in a small life raft.

“Once they actually found that raft, we got a wave from one of the persons who was rescued,” Hernandez  said. “And everybody on the boat was cheering for them.”

Passenger John Becker used his phone to film the rescue.  “Everyone was on high alert to help the people in the raft in the rescue boat,” he said.

The survivors were brought on board the ship and given medical attention.

It was a quick detour the cruise passengers will not soon forget.