A small plane made an emergency landing on the sand off Dania Beach, Florida after developing engine fault shortly after takeoff.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the single-engine Cessna 172, owned by a Dania Beach marketing firm, took off from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport about 2 p.m. Tuesday and was in the air for about 10 minutes before making an emergency landing.
“The aircraft makes regularly scheduled trips from Fort Lauderdale to the Bahamas,” Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue spokesman Michael Kane told WSVN-TV. “It appears that, in this case, the aircraft had possibly just taken off from Fort Lauderdale when it experienced engine trouble and was unable to return to Fort Lauderdale.”
Beach visitor Derek Thompson captured video of the plane’s landing.
“He landed on the beach right in front of me, and I saw people down the beach, a few people, just run to get out of the way of the plane. The plane went up, and it’s nose kind of dug into the sand a bit when it finally came to a stop, and it came back down on its wheels,” Thompson said.
The pilot was able to exit the plane uninjured.
“To say that this was a miraculous landing would be a great understatement,” Kane told WPLG-TV.
The FAA investigation into the incident is ongoing.
