WATCH: Small plane PLUNGES into ocean
In a dramatic turn of events, a small plane crash-landed into the ocean just off a Boca Raton beach, prompting a swift rescue. With commendable speed, a lifeguard dashed into the water to ensure the pilot reached safety. Police confirmed that the pilot, the sole occupant of this single-engine aircraft, escaped without injuries.
Captured on camera by a beach visitor, the young pilot from Florida skillfully managed to swim away after this tense landing in the Atlantic Ocean near Boca Raton on a recent Saturday.
Faith Tenkley, a 23-year-old pilot with four years of flying experience, expertly navigated her family’s twin-engine Piper, skillfully avoiding obstacles as she neared the shore. After steering clear of buildings and paddleboarders, she found a safe open patch of water to land beside the beach, as she recounted to Gulf Coast News. The plane gently touched down on the water at approximately 9:40 a.m. local time.
In a matter of seconds, a lifeguard was by Tenkley’s side after the plane made its descent near 250 South Ocean Blvd. A rescue boat from Boca Raton Ocean Rescue followed closely behind, confirmed local authorities.
A video showed the tail of the plane protruding from the ocean, a testament to the dramatic landing. (SCHD STAN/Craig Sutton via Storyful)
Video captured the dramatic moments of the water landing, the quick rescue and the aftermath of a shaken Tenkley sitting on the beach, looking out to the sinking plane fully intact.
Tenkley, who News Media has reached out to for comment, has declined media interviews outside of Gulf Coast News’ Peter Busch. He reported she wanted to clear up misinformation that it was a male pilot rescued by a female surfer instead of vice versa.
“One of the reasons Faith wanted to talk to me was to clear up misinformation she saw online about the pilot being a guy and a ‘surfer girl’ rescuing him,” Busch wrote on Facebook, detailing the conversation shortly after the water landing.
“Faith was wearing a long skirt over a bikini. She took off the skirt to swim to shore. People on the beach saw a woman in a bikini and assumed she was a surfer helping the male pilot.”
The plane was spotted flying low before crashing into the water. (SCHD STAN/Craig Sutton via Storyful)
Tenkley, who was the only person on board, had departed Page Field in Fort Myers and was headed to Bimini in the Bahamas to pick up her parents, she told Gulf Coast News.
She was taken to a hospital as a precaution and no injuries were reported, according to Boca Raton police.
About 15 miles west of Boca Raton, Tenkley began experiencing mechanical issues and initially planned to divert to Boca Raton Airport. But the landing gear then malfunctioned, and she feared a hard runway landing could ignite the recently refueled aircraft.
The pilot of the plane was rescued shortly after plunging into the ocean. (SCHD STAN/Craig Sutton via Storyful)
By that point, the plane’s right engine had also failed, leaving Tenkley to make a rapid decision to ditch the aircraft in the ocean rather than risk a landing on land.
Witnesses watched the low-flying plane descend over the busy beach before it landed in the water.
“One second I’m spraying sunscreen on my kid. The next I’m looking up and saying, ‘Is that supposed to be happening?’” beachgoer Maria Marks told WPBF.
Another witness, Alexis Arizzi, told the New York Post the aircraft made a slow descent and “delicately landed” on the water. A pilot at the beach praised Tenkley’s handling of the emergency, noting the plane remained in one piece.
FlightAware lost track of the flight over land, but the safe water landing was chronicled in the onlooker’s video.