23-year-old pilot uninjured in Florida Atlantic water landing

A 23-year-old pilot made an emergency water landing in the Atlantic Ocean off Boca Raton, Florida, on August 22, 2026, after her small aircraft suffered mechanical failures. Faith Tenkley, the sole occupant of her family’s twin-engine Piper PA-30, was uninjured in the incident and was transported to a local hospital as a precaution.

Tenkley was flying alone from Page Field in Fort Myers, Florida, to South Bimini Airport in the Bahamas to pick up her parents when the emergency occurred. She had been a licensed pilot for four years. Approximately 15 miles west of Boca Raton, Tenkley began experiencing mechanical issues. The aircraft’s right engine failed, and its landing gear broke. Tenkley initially planned to divert to Boca Raton Airport, which had cleared her for an emergency landing. However, fearing a hard runway landing in a recently refueled plane could spark a fire, she decided it would be safer to land in the ocean.

Around 9:40 a.m. local time, witnesses on the beach and in boats watched as Tenkley skillfully maneuvered the low-flying aircraft past buildings and paddleboarders near the coast. She found an open stretch of water and executed a smooth water landing about 2...