Fifteen hundred feet past the end of the runway, a pilot was trapped in the cockpit of an Extra NG. They were inverted in a Florida marsh, and the brackish water was rising.
Airport emergency trucks couldn’t drive into the swampy wetland. Local authority river boats had too deep a draft to operate there at low tide. They knew the plane was somewhere close, but couldn’t even see it, let alone reach it. The tower frequency had been near silent, with only the occasional pilot checking in, curtly told, “Airport is closed, emergency in progress.”
Then, a quiet transmission: “Can anybody hear me?”
“Hello, can anyone hear me?”
Tower: “N100NG, the tower hears you. We’re sending help. You doing OK?”
“Um, it’s not great. I’m trapped under here, and it’s pretty cold.”
Tower: “OK, 100NG, just hold on there. We’re getting help out to you right now.”
Voice breaking, “OK, thank you.”
The controller, clearly affected, yells to all airport responders the pilot is alive and trapped and needs help now. Minutes keep silently passing by.
Tower: “N100NG Tower, do you still hear me?”
“Yes, I still read you.”
Tower: “What’s your name?”
Tower: “All right, Marianne, my name’s A.J. I’m the tower guy. All right, we’re getting help out to you. Just hang in there. At least it’s not a freezing day here in Florida. It’s kinda warm. So, still about…
Source www.planeandpilotmag.com
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