Plane crash-lands on Miami Beach

Updated
Plane makes emergency landing on Miami Beach
Plane makes emergency landing on Miami Beach

A pilot was forced to make an emergency landing on Miami Beach on Tuesday - just a couple of days after a father and his daughter were killed by another plane that crash-landed on a beach in Florida.

This time, however, nobody was injured.

Pilot Jafet Cordero said he'd experienced a problem with the plane's engine, but was not sure exactly what.

According to the Daily Mail, he said: "I was trying to find the safest place. I didn't want to keep going and find out that something bad would happen. I saw an empty spot on the beach and so I cut power, and I made sure I wanted to land in this area."

He was carrying three passengers from Vero Beach to Tamiami Airport when the incident occurred at 12.30pm on Tuesday.

Plane makes emergency landing on Miami Beach
Plane makes emergency landing on Miami Beach


His passengers said they had not even realised there was an emergency.

One passenger, Martha Baptiste, said: "I just thank God with this pilot that we are safe. I didn't know something was happening."

There were dozens of people on the beach at the time. Witness Alejandro Mena told CBS Local: "The plane was going down and it seemed to stop functioning and then over there it turned. It was pretty scary. I thought it might hit somebody."

Other witnesses said the pilot "deserves a medal" and described his actions as "incredible".

Miami Beach Police Detective Vivian Thayer told CBS Local: "It's a blessing this pilot had such a safe landing, particularly in light of the tragedies over the weekend. To have someone land on the each is a huge concern here. When you hear about in on the radio, your first concern is how many injuries are there.

"Fortunately, there were no injuries on the plane or on the beach."

Plane makes emergency landing on Miami Beach
Plane makes emergency landing on Miami Beach


The Federal Aviation Administration are investigating.

The FAA is already ask investigating after another small plane crashed onto a Florida beach on Sunday, killing a 36-year-old man and his nine-year-old daughter who were taking a stroll.

Ommy Irizarry died at the scene, and his daughter Oceana Irizarry was critically injured and died from her injuries later in hospital.

The pilot of the Piper Cherokee, Karl Kokomoor, radioed to say he could not make it back to the Venice Municipal Airport and was going to attempt to land on Caspersen Beach.

He said he was losing altitude fast and aimed for an area on the water's edge that seemed to be remote.

According to CNN, Kokomoor, who, along with his passenger, was uninjured, said: "I never saw them. It was only after I landed and we exited the plane that I realised that there were people on the beach.

"Words cannot express the sorrow I feel."




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