NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Late Thursday afternoon, the pilot of a single-engine plane made an emergency landing on the Quinnipiac River in New Haven, which resulted in no injuries, to any of the three occupants aboard, including a Great Dane
The pilot of the Beechcraft Bonanza, whose name was not released, was calm when he realized he wasn't going to make it to Tweed New Haven Airport for an emergency landing.
The pilot said, "Not gonna make the field! Not gonna make the field! Going for the water!"
The water meant the Quinnipiac River. Surveillance video showed how the plane skimmed across the water.
"Not the way that you wanna have your flight end, but it was the best outcome given the circumstances that he faced up in the air," said Assistant New Haven Fire Chief Justin McCarthy.
Sources said the pilot told his wife to keep a close eye on the Grand Avenue bridge which they were rapidly approaching from the south and right after they cleared the bridge he put the plane in the water just above some oyster beds in the river
"I do not expect to see any issues with the beds at all because he really didn’t dig in and his landing gear wasn’t even down," said Rick Swan, from the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP). "So I’m really confident that they’re going to be in good shape and we got it out of there quick enough."
So there was no exposure he said to aviation fuel. But, while the plane landed on the edge of the channel, on a sandbar, where the water is only a couple of feet deep, the tide was rising quickly.
"That’s why we had to get airbags under it because our concern was he landed right on the edge of the channel and we were afraid the plane was gonna slip down into the deeper water and then we would lose control of the fuel," Swan said.
Bruneau's Garage of West Haven, which normally performs recovery of heavy vehicles from crash scenes along highways, was called in for this very different heavy lift.
"So we strapped it exactly the way they wanted it, we lifted it, we allowed the water to drain, we made sure no fuel was coming out of it. We continue to lift it in stages," said the heavy rescue business owner, Robert Bruneau
Firefighters were also able to get into the plane and retrieve the dog's medicine.
Tony Terzi is a reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at tterzi@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
---
Have a story idea or something on your mind you want to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at newstips@fox61.com
----
HERE ARE MORE WAYS TO GET FOX61 NEWS
Download the FOX61 News APP
iTunes: Click here to download
Google Play: Click here to download
Stream Live on ROKU: Add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching FOX61.
Steam Live on FIRE TV: Search ‘FOX61’ and click ‘Get’ to download.