Young Pilot Makes Emergency Ocean Landing in South Florida, Rescued Unhurt

A young pilot “delicately” ditched a private plane in the water near a South Florida beach and was rescued unhurt after a series of mechanical breakdowns prevented an emergency airport landing. Faith Tenkley, 23, told WZVN-TV that she was flying her family's twin-engine propeller plane to pick up her parents in the Bahamas when the problems developed Saturday morning, about 15 miles west of Boca Raton. Tenkley, who's been a licensed pilot for four years, said she initially hoped to land at Boca Raton Airport but was thwarted by broken landing gear, forcing her to dodge buildings and paddleboarders as she searched for a spot to crash land in the Atlantic Ocean. Witness Alexis Arizzi, who was on a boat with her husband and their toddler son, told TV station WPBF that they watched in amazement as the scene unfolded. “The plane was making a slow descent and delicately landed into the water,” she said. Another witness, beachgoer Maria Marks, was likewise astounded by what she saw. “One second I’m spraying sunscreen on my kid,” she told WPBF. “The next, I’m looking up and saying, 'Is that supposed to be happening?’” Tenkley said that her ocean landing went smoothly and that a lifeguard reached her within a minute, followed by a fire department rescue boat. The Federal Aviation Administration said the Piper PA30 series plane went into the water around 9:40 a.m., according to WPBF, which said it's registered to a company run by Chad and Lisa Tenkley. Piper Aircraft built the PA30 series, which has four or six seats, from 1961 to 1972, WPBF said. The Palm Beach Police Services Department said on social media that no passengers were on board during the incident and that the pilot was taken to a local hospital “as a precaution.”