Hundreds of beachgoers in Myrtle Beach watched as a banner plane crashed into the water.
At the South Carolina beach, a yellow jet crashed into the surf at 11:35 a.m. on Monday near 40th Avenue North.
According to Cpl. Chris Starling of the Myrtle Beach police, the pilot was taken to a local hospital.
From the shore, onlookers could be seen staring as the plane continued to float in the water around 20 yards away.
South Carolina‘s Myrtle Beach is the scene of an aeroplane disaster.
According to Starling, authorities were waiting for the US Coast Guard and maybe the Federal Aviation Administration to handle retrieving the jet from the water safely.
The pilot’s status wasn’t known right away.
The pilot was apparently able to escape with the assistance of about a dozen individuals who had reportedly already entered the water.
Valerie Randolph, a witness, stated to The Mirror that “this happened right in front of us.” The first male to board the plane was the boyfriend of my daughter.
Ten to fifteen men were supporting the plane while lifeguards freed the man. With the aid of some very heroic spectators, those four to five guards were able to save his life.
There was supposedly no one else in the aircraft but the pilot.
According to WPDE, his aircraft is a 1947-built Piper PA-12 Fixed Wing Single-Engine Aircraft with the registration number N3036M from Barnstormers Aerial Advertising.
Only two days prior, a banner plane near Hampton Beach in New Hampshire attempted to make a water landing but overturned in the air as soon as its nose touched the sea. The aircraft performed a somersault and landed upright in the water.
The pilot was pulled out of the water by state lifeguards even though he was unharmed. There was nobody else in the aircraft. What precipitated the collision was not immediately clear.
Liane McNamara, a witness, reported that the plane crashed not far from where beachgoers were swimming.
Some others questioned whether this was a joke. Is it a prank? McNamara spoke with WMUR. It was quite bizarre. Even now, it seems absurd.
One person was hurt in a shooting in the city the night before the jet crash in Myrtle Beach.