Pilot Ditches Twin-Engine Plane in Ocean Off Boca Raton to Avoid Hitting Paddleboarders
Faith Tenkley, 23, steered her disabled Piper Twin Comanche away from the shoreline and into shallow water after losing an engine and her landing gear — walking away without a scratch.
A 23-year-old pilot walked away without a scratch Saturday morning after deliberately ditching her twin-engine plane in the Atlantic Ocean off Boca Raton, Florida, rather than risk a chaotic landing near people on shore.
Faith Tenkley was flying a Piper PA-30 "Twin Comanche" from Page Field in Fort Myers to South Bimini Airport in the Bahamas when, around 9:40 a.m., the plane's right engine failed and its landing gear malfunctioned, according to Local10/WPLG. With Boca Raton Airport carrying its own risks — a hard landing with a dead engine and bad gear raises the odds of fire — Tenkley instead steered the crippled aircraft out over the water off South Beach Park, threading it past paddleboarders and swimmers before bringing it down in shallow surf.
Twin-engine Comanches like Tenkley's were produced by Piper Aircraft from the early 1960s through the mid-1970s and remain popular among private pilots for short island-hopping routes between Florida and the Bahamas — a route that logs thousands of flights a year, the vast majority without incident.
Caught on video
Beachgoers captured the moment on video, showing a plume of spray as the plane hit the water. Tenkley was pulled from the wreckage by Boca Raton Ocean Rescue lifeguards and taken to a hospital as a precaution; she was not seriously injured. WFLX reported police confirmed no one on the beach was hurt.
SHE STEERED AWAY FROM BUILDINGS AND PEOPLE ON THE BEACH
Salvage crews spent Sunday hauling the wrecked Twin Comanche out of the ocean, a job complicated by the surf and the plane's position close to shore, according to Fox affiliate coverage. The Federal Aviation Administration has opened an investigation into what caused the dual engine and gear failure, a process that typically takes weeks to months to produce even preliminary findings.
Aviation safety experts say the outcome — a survivable ditching with no injuries on the ground — largely came down to Tenkley's decision-making in the final seconds, choosing open water over a compromised runway approach. The FAA has not said when it expects to release findings.