Dramatic video shows Coast Guard rescue 2 from plane that crashed in marsh during university ‘training’
Dramatic video footage captures the moment a US Coast Guard crew plucks two survivors from a small plane that went down in a South Carolina marsh on Saturday during a college “training flight.”
The single-engine aircraft — reportedly piloted by a flight instructor and a student from Averett University in Virginia — went down in a swampy area near the Little Black River shortly after 4 p.m. Saturday with both men on board, the federal agency said in a press release.
After being notified of the downed plane the Coast Guard dispatched an MH-65 Dolphin chopper from the agency’s station in Savannah to pluck the survivors to safety, the release said.
Footage of the rescues shows a stretcher being lowered from the helicopter to pull the pair to safety.
“After arriving on the scene, we quickly located and deployed our rescue swimmer to the downed aircraft to assess the pilot’s condition,” Lt. Cmdr. Jon Sapundjieff, Coast Guard Air Station Savannah aircraft commander, said in a statement after the operation.
“I appreciate the assistance from the tower controller and the airport crash crew at the Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport for making this case go smoothly,” Sapundjieff said.
The river marks the border between South Carolina and Georgia.
The downed plane, a fixed-wing Piper PA-28-181, is registered to Averett University in Danville, Virginia, according to the Federal Aviation Administration aircraft registry.
According to WNCN-TV News, the plane was on a training flight out of the school when the instructor and the student suffered “an autopilot malfunction during takeoff.”
Last week, the Coast Guard pulled off another dramatic helicopter rescue off the coast of Puerto Rico when an MH-60T Jayhawk chopper was called in to medivac a sick cruise ship passenger.
The 64-year-old patient suffered “an abdominal medical emergency” while on board the Celebrity Apex cruise on Dec. 2 about 160 miles off the coast of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, the Guard said.
The ailing woman was safely transported to a hospital on the island for treatment.
