COCOA BEACH, Fla — A Preble County tells News Center 7 about witnessing a World War II-era aircraft make a crash landing into the Atlantic Ocean during a Florida air show on Saturday.
Brian and Amber Ditmer are currently on vacation in Florida and when Amber was getting ready to take maternity photos for her daughter, she saw a plane getting closer to the water. With her camera in hand, she started snapping photos.
“I just thought I was about to get some cool action shots, but I never expected I get it landing actually in the water,” Amber Ditmer told News Center 7′s Ronnell Hunt.
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The plane, a TBM Avenger, was flying in the Cocoa Beach Air Show when it experienced mechanical failure and headed for the water.
One of the couple’s daughters was one of the many people in the water near where the plane landed, which Brian described as a “belly flop.”
“He actually made his plane do a belly flop in the way to bounce over the people that were in the water, to hit an open space and nose dived it into the water before he got to the next people,” Brian Ditmer said.
Brian said if it weren’t for the quick thinking of the pilot to hit the wave, people could have been hurt. No one was in the water was injured, but they did say it took the pilot a few minutes to open the immerge from the cockpit.
The pilot was taken to the hospital and was treated for minor injuries. He has since been released.
Cox Media Group
