Young Pilot Walks Away Safely After Dramatic Emergency Landing in Florida

BOCA RATON, Fla. — A 23-year-old Florida pilot is grateful to be alive after making a remarkable emergency landing in the Atlantic Ocean off Boca Raton over the weekend.

Faith Tenkley was flying her family’s Piper PA-30 from Fort Myers toward the Bahamas on Aug. 22 when the aircraft experienced serious mechanical problems, including failure of the right engine and landing-gear trouble.

Rather than risk a dangerous landing at Boca Raton Airport while the aircraft was carrying a substantial amount of fuel, Tenkley decided to head toward the coast and bring the plane down in open water.

A Split-Second Decision

Tenkley was reportedly about 15 miles from Boca Raton when the problems developed.

She initially planned to divert to the airport, but concerns about the damaged landing gear and the possibility of a fire led her to reconsider. She ultimately guided the aircraft toward the Atlantic, carefully avoiding buildings, swimmers, paddleboarders and other people along the shoreline.

Video recorded by beachgoers captured the aircraft descending toward the water before making a relatively controlled landing.

Witnesses said the plane appeared to remain under Tenkley’s control throughout the descent.

She Swam to Safety

After the aircraft entered the water near South Beach Park, a lifeguard reached Tenkley within about a minute and helped her get back to shore.

She was taken to a hospital as a precaution but was not seriously injured.

In a statement afterward, Tenkley said she was “incredibly fortunate” to have been able to swim away from the incident.

She also emphasized that her priority during the emergency was keeping people on the ground safe.

Flying to Pick Up Her Parents

Tenkley had been traveling to the Bahamas to pick up her parents when the aircraft developed problems.

Her father, Chad Tenkley, is also a licensed pilot and later expressed his pride in his daughter’s handling of the emergency.

Tenkley has held her pilot’s license for about four years. Her calm response under pressure has drawn praise from witnesses and other aviation observers.

Plane Recovered From the Ocean

The aircraft was later recovered from the Atlantic. Crews removed parts of the plane, including its engines and wings, as authorities began examining what caused the mechanical failures.

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the incident, so the precise cause of the aircraft’s problems has not yet been established.

For Tenkley, however, the most important outcome is already clear.

She made it safely back to shore — and walked away from an emergency that could have ended very differently.