State police in Pennsylvania on Monday located a father and daughter following an overnight plane crash in Luzerne County. The two were found alive after a unit of the United States Air Force located them by tracking the girl’s iPad.
The 58-year-old man and his 13-year-old daughter were suffering from pre-hypothermia or hypothermia when Pennsylvania State Police discovered them in what one authority called a miracle.
The man and his teen daughter, whose names were not released, had been flying to the Pocono Mountain Municipal Airport after a brief stop at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport.
The Associated Press reported that the FAA said their plane had disappeared from radar after a rapid descent. The plane crashed in a wooded area in Bear Creek Township.
Local ABC-affiliated station WNEP-TV said the FAA contacted state police in Wilkes-Barre at around 8:40 p.m. on Sunday, and the United States Air Force was also contacted to aid in the search.
By tracking the father’s cellphone and the daughter’s iPad that pinged off a local tower, members of the United States Air Force were able to determine the location of the missing duo.
Sergeant John Richards of the Pennsylvania State Police told the duel local affiliate stations WBRE-TV/WYOU that the investigation was unlike any other he’s ever seen during his 28 years with the Pennsylvania State Police.
“With the help of the United States Air Force, they were able to track a better location using several pings. Actually, using the cellphone of the pilot and the daughter’s iPad. And the iPad actually led us right to the crash site,” Richards told reporters, according to WBRE/WYOU.
He continued, “The daughter saves both of them by using her iPad. And the dad was cuddling the daughter that gave her warmth, because they were both suffering from hypothermia at the time.”
Richards called it a miracle and told WNEP the two were scared when authorities discovered them.
“They were very scared at first. Dad was extremely scared when I first approached, thinking there was an animal or something approaching his daughter,” Richards told news outlet. “We explained who we were, that we were there to help, and immediately they start talking to us and were cooperative the whole way. They helped us every which way they could.”
The father and daughter were taken to a hospital, and their conditions are not known, the Associated Press said.
The National Transportation Safety Board is expected to continue investigating the plane crash on Monday, according to reports.
Newsweek contacted the Pennsylvania State Police for comment but did not hear back in time for publication.
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