Pilot escapes plane crash after landing in sea in front of shocked families
Faith Tenkley managed to get herself out of the wreck after landing in the sea (Picture: Facebook/Faith Tenkley)
A 23-year-old pilot walked away from a plane wreck unscathed after deliberately landing her twin-engine plane in the Atlantic Ocean.
Faith Tenkley landed in front of shocked beachgoers in Boca Raton, Florida, avoiding people in the sea and buildings in the process.
Tenkley had been flying her family’s plane from Page Field Airport in Fort Myers to South Bimini Airport in the Bahamas to visit her parents when she began experiencing mechanical problems about 15 miles west of Boca Raton, she told Gulf Coast News.
She said her original plan had been to change course and perform an emergency landing at Boca Raton Airport but there was a problem – her landing gear broke.
Tenkley, who has been a pilot for four years, feared that with the large amount of fuel still in the aircraft, attempting to land on a runway without landing gear could result in a hard landing, with the potential to cause a fire.
As her journey continued, the right engine of the twin-engine Piper failed, at which point she made the decision to land in the Atlantic Ocean.
The 23-year-old, who has been a pilot for four years, encountered issues with her aircraft while flying to pick up her parents (Picture: Facebook/Faith Tenkley)
She made the decision to land in the ocean to avoid a hard landing on a runway that could have sparked a fire (Picture: Boca Raton Fire Rescue)
After flying around buildings and avoiding paddleboarders, Tenkley found a clear patch of ocean and landed in the water against all odds.
Remarkably, she managed to get out of the plane without any help and escaped with no injuries.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web
browser that supports HTML5
video
Up Next
Previous Page
Next Page
While no injuries were reported, Tenkley was taken to hospital as a precaution.
The plane landed around 9.40am on Saturday, August 22, with police, lifeguards, and the US Coast Guard arriving shortly after.
Speaking to WPBF, onlooker Maria Marks said: ‘I was there when it happened. One second I’m spraying sunscreen on my kid. The next, I’m looking up and saying, “Is that supposed to be happening?”‘
Another witness, Alexis Arizzi, said: ‘We were the first boat to witness and respond to the plane landing in the beach this morning. The plane was making a slow descent and delicately landed into the water.
Tenkley sustained no injuries in the emergency landing (Picture: Boca Raton Police Services Department)
‘My husband is an aircraft mechanic at Boca Airport and has been discussing this with the local aviation community all day.’
On Sunday morning, removal crews had retrieved the Piper PA30 series twin-engine propeller plane from the water near South Beach Park.
An investigation into the circumstances surrounding the crash has been launched.
Pilot, 62, fighting for life after plane crash trapped him in wreckage News Popham Airfield’s website says both runways are closed ‘until further notice’. (Picture: Getty) A pilot is fighting for his life in hospital after his light aircraft crashed and flipped over at an airfield. The pilot had to be ripped out of the wreckage after the plane came down in Popham…
Alaska plane crash kills all eight people aboard at radar site News The National Transportation Safety Board provided the information (Picture: AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) A charter plane has killed all eight people aboard after crashing near a remote radar site in western Alaska. The aircraft came down near the Cape Newenham Long Range Radar Site Airport, around 450 miles (725km) west of…
2 US Army Corps of Engineers workers among 8 killed in small plane crash in Alaska near radar site News By BECKY BOHRER JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Two U.S. Army Corps of Engineers employees were among eight killed in a small plane crash near the site of a remote aircraft-tracking radar in western Alaska, the U.S. military said. The agency had chartered the plane, which crashed Thursday near its destination,…
The story of child pilot Jessica Dubroff – and a dream that ended in disaster News Jessica’s passion for aviation began when she got an airplane ride for her sixth birthday (Picture: Lacy Atkins/AP) Jessica Dubroff’s parents always wanted her to fly free. Delivered in a birthing pool without a doctor or midwife present, she was the daughter of parents who preferred to live outside the…
TUI plane issued mayday call after ‘trespasser’ shut runway at UK airport News The TUI flight, not pictured, had taken off from Cape Verde around five hours earlier (Picture: Getty Images) A TUI flight was forced into an emergency diversion as its fuel supplies ran low during a ‘tresspass’ incident at Manchester Airport. Planes were blocked from landing on a runway at the…
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.
