Moment aircraft SOMERSAULTS after crash into water off New Hampshire beach – and pilot escapes without any injuries
- Videos posted online show a Piper PA-18 crashing into the ocean off Hampton Beach, New Hampshire, on Saturday afternoon
- The impact caused him to flip over, tail-over-nose, and swing back and forth several times
- The pilot was able to get out of the ship without injury and swim away
Dramatic cell phone footage captured the moment a small plane somersaulted after crashing into the water off a beach in New Hampshire.
Videos posted online show a Piper PA-18 slowly descending before landing in the water only about 100 feet away from people trying to escape the heat on Hampton Beach Saturday afternoon.
The impact caused him to flip over, tail-over-nose, and swing back and forth several times.
The banner it carried through the blue sky was also torn off during the sudden descent and reportedly landed on some nearby beachgoers, all of whom were unharmed.
Fortunately, the pilot was able to get out of the ship without injury and swim to safety. He was the only one on board the ship at the time.
A small plane dove into the Atlantic Ocean about 100 feet from beachgoers in New Hampshire on Saturday afternoon
The Piper PA-18 swayed several times from the impact of the forced landing
Thousands of people on New Hampshire beach shortly after noon were amazed at what they had seen.
Liane McNamara was videotaping her brother-in-law boogie boarding at the time when she noticed the plane.
“I said, ‘Wow, that’s really low,'” she told the New Hampshire Union Leader. “It just kept getting lower. Then he swooped and flipped over.’
Another beachgoer, Gera Ocuette Jr., told the story WCVB he even saw his propeller stop.
The cockpit appeared to have been submerged for an extended period of time, based on the multitude of cell phone footage captured of the crash, but witnesses said they saw the pilot swimming out and away from the aircraft.
“He walked out in his clothes and socks and shoes, and he was shaken,” Laurie Lemoine said.
“Some people said, ‘Is this a joke? Is it a stunt?'” McNamara said. “It was very unreal.”
The unknown pilot was assessed at the scene by Hampton Police and other first responders, but suffered no injuries and was not taken to a hospital.
Soon after, a group of lifeguards and beachgoers used heavy rope to drag the plane out of the water.
The plane can be seen nose down in the waves following the Saturday afternoon crash before a group of lifeguards and beachgoers helped pull it to shore
That same group was later seen moving the plane over the sand and along the shoreline.
Hampton police said they and firefighters responded to the crash scene, and members of the US Coast Guard and the New Hampshire State Police Marine Patrol Unit responded to the beach.
The crash is now being investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.
The pilot would cooperate with the investigation.