You don’t see this every day!

A young pilot in Florida is thankful to be alive after she was forced to make an emergency landing in the Atlantic Ocean.

The pilot has been identified as 23-year-old Faith Tenkley and according to authorities she made the emergency landing landing in the Atlantic Ocean off Boca Raton.

WPBF reported further details on the emergency landing:

An emergency landing in the Atlantic Ocean off Boca Raton had a happy ending Saturday with the female pilot, the only occupant, uninjured and taken to a local hospital as a precaution, the Boca Raton Police Department and Boca Raton Fire Rescue said.

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A Piper PA30 series twin-engine propeller plane went into the ocean 2 miles east of Boca Raton Airport around 9:40 a.m., Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Cassandra Nolan told WPBF.

Faith Tenkley, 23, who has been a pilot for four years, was flying her family’s plane to pick up her parents in Bimini. She spoke to Gulf Coast News, the Hearst sister station of WPBF, but didn’t want to describe to anchor Peter Busch what happened on camera.

The flight departed from Page Field in Fort Myers and was headed to South Bimini Airport in the Bahamas for a 144-nautical-mile trip.

When an emergency was declared, the plane was cleared to land at Boca Raton Airport, Clara Bennett, executive director of the Boca Raton Airport Authority, said. Instead, Tenkley decided it would be safer to land in the water.

Boca Raton Ocean Rescue responded and assisted her from the aircraft.

Watch here:

Backup here if needed:

Local 10  reported Faith made the emergency after having engine failure:

Tenkley, 23, told Gulf Coast News that the right engine failed, and the landing gear broke. Since the plane still had a lot of fuel, she feared that a hard landing at the Boca Raton Airport, where she was cleared to land, could spark a fire.

Tenkley told Gulf Coast News that she decided it was safer to land in the water, so she dodged buildings and paddleboarders near the coast, found an empty spot, and aimed for a smooth landing. No one was injured.

Craig Sutton, who witnessed the pilot’s survival, shared a video with Local 10 News. The Boca Raton Ocean Rescue, Boca Raton Police Department, and a lifeguard responded.

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Another clip:

This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport. View the original article here.

 

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