Pilot Makes Emergency Ocean Landing Off Florida After Mechanical Failure

A 23-year-old pilot executed a controlled emergency landing in the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday morning after her small plane developed mechanical issues shortly after takeoff, with the dramatic incident unfolding in full view of beachgoers and boaters off Boca Raton, Florida. The pilot, identified as Faith Tenkley, escaped uninjured following the water landing approximately two miles east of Boca Raton Airport.

Tenkley was piloting a Piper PA-30 twin-engine propeller aircraft. According to investigators and the Boca Raton Airport Authority, she had departed from Page Field in Fort Myers and was en route to South Bimini in the Bahamas to pick up her parents. Approximately 15 miles west of Boca Raton, she encountered serious mechanical problems. The plane's landing gear and right engine failed. Although she was cleared for an emergency landing at Boca Raton Airport, Tenkley determined that a runway approach was too dangerous due to the aircraft carrying a significant amount of fuel. She instead opted to bring the plane down on the open ocean around 9:40 a.m.

Witnesses on the beach and in the water described a skillful descent. Boaters Michael and Alexis Arizzi, who were diving...