MUST SEE: Young Pilot Makes Emergency Landing In The Atlantic Ocean

An emergency landing in the Atlantic Ocean off Boca Raton had a happy ending Saturday with the female pilot, the only occupant, uninjured and taken to a local hospital as a precaution, the Boca Raton Police Department and Boca Raton Fire Rescue said.

A Piper PA30 series twin-engine propeller plane went into the ocean 2 miles east of Boca Raton Airport around 9:40 a.m., Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Cassandra Nolan told WPBF.

Faith Tenkley, 23, who has been a pilot for four years, was flying her family’s plane to pick up her parents in Bimini. She spoke to Gulf Coast News, the Hearst sister station of WPBF, but didn’t want to describe to anchor Peter Busch what happened on camera.

The flight departed from Page Field in Fort Myers and was headed to South Bimini Airport in the Bahamas for a 144-nautical-mile trip.

When an emergency was declared, the plane was cleared to land at Boca Raton Airport, Clara Bennett, executive director of the Boca Raton Airport Authority, said. Instead, Tenkley decided it would be safer to land in the water.

Boca Raton Ocean Rescue responded and assisted her from the aircraft.

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Wow! A small plane flew right past me while I was running, and I recorded it making an emergency landing in the ocean near South Beach Park in Boca Raton, Florida.

I ran down the beach and caught up to it, saw the passenger safely on shore and watched the plane begin sinking… pic.twitter.com/8fNst7sxYE

— SCHD STAN | Craig (@SCHDETF) August 22, 2026

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Tenkley, 23, told Gulf Coast News that the right engine failed, and the landing gear broke. Since the plane still had a lot of fuel, she feared that a hard landing at the Boca Raton Airport, where she was cleared to land, could spark a fire.

Tenkley told Gulf Coast News that she decided it was safer to land in the water, so she dodged buildings and paddleboarders near the coast, found an empty spot, and aimed for a smooth landing. No one was injured.

Craig Sutton, who witnessed the pilot’s survival, shared a video with Local 10 News. The Boca Raton Ocean Rescue, Boca Raton Police Department, and a lifeguard responded.

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Here’s a clip from the NBC Nightly News report about the plane ocean crash landing I witnessed and recorded today. The clip includes a brief eyewitness account from me.

: courtesy of NBC Nightly News https://t.co/uBDsNANzDH pic.twitter.com/uox1sPv2uG

— SCHD STAN | Craig (@SCHDETF) August 23, 2026

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