A privately owned small plane with two people onboard crashed about six miles off the coast of Branford around 10:30 a.m. – shortly after taking off from Bridgeport Sikorsky Airport, officials said.

The pilot and a passenger were rescued from the water by the U.S. Coast Guard and taken to Yale New Haven Hospital with minor injuries.

"It's nothing short of a miracle that the pilot and the passenger survived that crash," said Trish Misiasz of Branford, who heard sirens outside of her home.

Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim, who was briefed on the incident by airport officials, said the crash occurred about 10 minutes after the plane took off.

"I cannot say this enough – the pilot and his passenger owe their lives to the remarkable first responders who put their own lives on the line, in windy conditions and amid choppy seas, to pull the survivors out of the water and get them safely to shore. We all owe these first responders a debt of gratitude for doing their jobs so well," Ganim said.

The cause of the crash was not immediately known, Ganim said. The mayor said the pilot was able to transmit his location to the Coast Guard before the aircraft sank.

"It's a miracle...that both the pilot and his passenger walked away from the crash with only bumps and bruises," Ganim said.

The FAA is investigating the crash.