Two young girls and a pilot miraculously survived a plane crash Sunday by huddling atop the aircraft’s wing for 12 long hours on a freezing Alaskan lake, according to witnesses and rescuers. The 38-year-old man and two young relatives in his immediate family were spotted atop the partially submerged Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser in the Tustumena Lake by a volunteer pilot who stepped forward Monday to help search for the trio.

A pilot and his two young daughters survived on the wing of a plane for about 12 hours after it crashed and was partially submerged in an icy Alaska lake, then were rescued after being spotted by a good Samaritan.

The three people - including two young children - survived by clinging onto the side of the Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser light aircraft after it plunged into the freezing waters.