A small airplane was forced to make an emergency landing on a Long Island beach after the pilot reported engine failure, according to officials.
The Federal Aviation Administration said that a single-engine aircraft landed on Cedar Beach in the hamlet of Mount Sinai around 7:30 p.m. The Cesna 152 plane's engine lost power mid-flight, according to the Suffolk County Police Department, leaving the 60-year-old pilot to make the emergency landing on the beach.
Neither the pilot nor his 59-year-old passenger, a woman, was injured as a result of the sudden landing, police said. No injuries were reported to anyone on the ground.
College student Victoria Calcano was at the beach to enjoy the sunset, but looked up and saw a plane heading for the beach. She grabbed her phone to take this video of the aircraft touching down hard on the sand.
"I just gasped. Put down my phone and ran over to see if they were OK," said Calcano, adding that the two people on board appeared relieved to be alive. "She was scared, she was shaking. I gave her a hug and said 'You’re safe, you’re OK.'"
The plane is registered to Long Island Aviators, a flight training school in Farmingdale. In 2016, the same plane touched down on another beach, making an emergency landing at Sunken Meadow State Park. The website Aviation Safety Network says in that earlier incident, the pilot also lost power. Two people on board during that flight escaped injury as well.
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Officials from Long Island Aviators did not comment on either incident. It was not known if the plane would be returning to the air any time soon.
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An investigation is ongoing, the FAA said.
