Female pilot lands plane in the Atlantic Ocean off Florida coast and swims away without a scratch

A 23-year-old pilot named Faith Tenkley has shared details about the emergency water landing she survived off the coast of Florida, after which she managed to swim to shore without a scratch on her.

Tenkley was headed to the Bahamas but never made it to the Caribbean. One of the engines on her twin-engine Piper PA-30 failed mid-flight, and landing gear problems followed shortly after.

She decided against returning to Boca Raton Airport. According to her, the risk of hurting people on the ground while bringing down a damaged aircraft was too high, so she kept flying along the coastline and eventually chose to ditch in open water near Delray Beach.

Speaking to WPTV, Tenkley noted that returning to the airport was "not the safest option" given the circumstances.

I am incredibly fortunate and relieved to share that I was able to swim away from this incident. After deciding a landing at Boca Raton Airport was not the safest option, I continued to the coast. During the descent, my primary focus was ensuring the safety of everyone around me.

I was able to navigate toward open water, successfully avoiding all nearby buildings, paddleboarders, and swimmers (as well as individuals using metal detectors).

Landing a plane with retracted or damaged landing gear on water ranks among the trickiest maneuvers a pilot can attempt – exposed gear struts can catch the water and flip the aircraft. On top of that, a Piper PA-30 Twin Comanche with a dead engine forces the pilot to constantly work the rudder to counteract the uneven thrust.

WPTV reports the wreckage has already been pulled from the water, so there's nothing left to see at the scene.