UPDATE (4:06 p.m.): The pilot of the aircraft that overturned in Mobile Bay on Friday morning told WKRG that the two people on board walked away with no scratches and were able to “laugh it off.”
The Federal Aviation Administration determined the aircraft to be a single-engine Quicksilver SP II, which is an extramental aircraft. Photos show what looks like buoys attached to the bottom of the aircraft, giving it the ability to float on water.
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The pilot said he and his passenger were floating in Mobile Bay when they got hit by a large wave. That wave, according to the pilot, overturned the aircraft.
The U.S. Coast Guard said the incident happened near Gaillard Island around 7:30 a.m. Friday.
“There’s a lot of stuff that goes on out on that water,” nearby resident Alesia Savell said.
The two people on board escaped and sat on top of the aircraft, according to the Coast Guard, where they waited for help to arrive.
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“Probably, that was the safest thing to do because they had floatation being in the water like that, and you’re going to be spotted eventually,” Timothy Wolfe, another nearby resident, said.
While the crash is not a good thing, Wolfe said it was a blessing that it overturned where it did because of the commercial vessels that pass through the area. A good Samaritan on one of those vessels spotted the overturned aircraft and rescued the two stranded aviators.
“That was a God send,” Wolfe said. “It couldn’t have happened at a better place, I agree.”
The pilot traveled back out to the aircraft to tow it back in. He said the salt water had ruined the engine.
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As for saving the aircraft, he chuckled and said he’d have to buy a new one.
The FAA said it is continuing to investigate.
ORIGINAL STORY
MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) — Two people were rescued after a seaplane crash into Mobile Bay Friday morning, according to the United States Coast Guard.
Mobile Police Department’s Marine Detail as well as the Coast Guard and the Alabama Department of Law Enforcement responded to the crash around 7:30 a.m. on Aug. 16.
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These agencies found that a two-seater ultralight plane crashed near the Industrial Canal.
Coast Guard officials said the two people on the plane were able to escape and sit on the top of the overturned plane.
A Good Samaritan boat was able to get the people onto their boat and neither was injured, according to officials.
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