During the Cocoa Beach Air Show in Florida last Saturday, a Grumman Avenger, a second world-war torpedo bomber, faced technical issues and was forced to land (ditch) close to the shore. The pilot was rescued shortly after.
The U.S. federal aviation authorities (FAA) said it will investigate the mishap along with the National Transportation Safety Board.
Following footage of the ditching appeared on social media:
Certainly not ideal, but if you have to crash, this is about as good as it gets. Kudos to the pilot on a textbook ditch. #avgeek pic.twitter.com/Vv3dhhnHPz
— Maz Jovanovich (@maz_jovanovich) April 18, 2021
The pilot was in a TBM Avenger Saturday performing in the warbird parade when the issue happened, according to the following Facebook post: