that's Frankie news happens five miles
off the coast of Mayport a small plane
went down the pilot was rescued this
happened within the last hour as I
mentioned about five miles off the coast
News four Jack's anchor Turek minders in
the newsroom
toric you just got off the phone with
the pilot he just got back to
Morningstar marina a man who was out on
a fishing charger charter actually
brought him to safety I was able to
speak with both of them I just got off
the phone with that pilot and the man
who saved him who just happened to be in
the right place at the right time some
five miles off the coast of Mayport we
also have received a picture of a Navy
helicopter that also rushed to the scene
but thankfully the pilot was pulled
onboard that fishing charter boat
captain by Don Dingman pilot Bart Albert
tells me that he left Asheville North
Carolina this morning he was headed to
Ormond Beach in flight he says he lost
power to his engine he tried to make it
to land but there was no other option
than to put it down in the ocean he says
he managed to land this plane as gently
as he possibly could in the water
ironically charter boat captain Don
Damon was nearby and was able to
navigate to him quickly
the pilot Bart Albert tells me that his
plane sank almost immediately and he was
treading water without a life preserver
in the ocean for about five minutes
before Dingman pulled him onto his boat
Albert says he was flying a 1961 bonanza
plane that immediately sank in the ocean
we do know that a Navy helicopter was in
the area as well so they were there when
the plane went down we also spoke with
the Coast Guard who was also there so I
guess they're gonna try to determine if
there's anything left to salvage there
at the scene but here's what the planes
pilot told me on the phone well I lost a
lost minute my engine about 10 miles
offshore and I declared a mayday and
headed towards dry land but it it was
wet or I landed so I did normal
procedures I checked which fuel tanks
turned on the fuel pump checked the
Magneto's check back switch tanks again
wasn't going anywhere but down so I
headed east
I had it west towards the beach and
contacted I was on Jacksonville approach
and I think I caught declared a mayday
and they sent a cop there as Macbeth
guys in the fishing boat got there first
I'm so used to rental and I just didn't
wanna have the building ironically the
captain of that charter boat tells me
that he was delayed about two hours
who's taken out a group of people to go
fishing this morning and they had some
some problems getting their own time so
he was delayed two hours which put him
precisely at the right place at the
right time to pull that pilot on board
his ship even before the Navy
helicopters or the Coast Guard could
even get there Bruce here
tarek first of all you know Bart Albert
sounded extremely calm I guess when
you're a pilot you're trained to just
act and not react yeah I mean I asked
him I said it was is this one of those
moments where you know you felt as if
your life flashed before your eyes and
you told me no in a very calm manner he
says that he just went back to his
training in his mind
and he was able to land that plane the
captain of both the charter boat ad on
Damen says it looked like it was a plane
that was landing a float plane the way
that he landed it so apparently he put
this plane down as softly as he possibly
could the ocean conditions must have
been just fine and he was able to tread
water and wait for Dingman to pull him
on board that ship what a story yeah
Matt do me a favor back in the booth if
you could pick up put up the picture
again of the group as they arrived back
at the marina I just looked at this
picture you know it looks like a guy a
bunch of guys who just got back from a
fishing trip I mean this is just just
unbelievable has he talked about how
long he's had this aircraft or if he's
had any problems before you know I asked
about the aircraft you said it's a 1961
Beech Bonanza aircraft you know it's a
historical a plane with a lot of history
a plane that he's been flying for a long
time he said he's never had an issue
like this before obviously and and that
this was just a surprise that he was
able to manage his way out of and walk
away with his life that captain I mean
yeah the Charter captain Don Dingman
went out there to catch some fish today
caught a human instead water man brought
him on board he caught a big fish I'll
tell you it's all right thank you by the
way let me give you some more
information here captain Don is married
to our meteorologist Rebecca berry and
you know he he was just in the right
place at the right time
Sarek I was doing some some checking you
talked about this being an historic
plane it apparent
first went into production in 1947 and
in its early days it was known as the
doctor killer the price of it was about
$7,500 and apparently there were a lot
of doctors who flew it and it had what
they called a V tail and it was a fairly
unstable aircraft but in recent history
it appears to be one that does not have
a big history of problems we'll have to
do some more checking on that it's a six
seater single-engine aircraft but he
told you that the plane almost
immediately went down it yes it did he
said once he lost his engine power he
realized that he had to try to find a
place to to put it down he was about 60
miles away from the Ormond Beach
Municipal Airport there so not a lot of
options there the only option is to put
it down safely and gently in the ocean
all right Jim we're working to get more
torque I appreciate that I said Jim
because Jim Pickett just arrived on the
scene at Morningstar marina
I'll have a live report from him later
right here on news four jacks boy what a
story