Coasties Rescue 2 after airplane ditches in the ocean near San Francisco

HALF MOON BAY, California – An aerial photo shoot off the north coast of California has turned into a rescue drama when one of the two small aircraft flying together malfunctioned and the pilot l? 39, did dive into the ocean.

The single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza propeller plane crashed Tuesday night at Half Moon Bay, south of San Francisco.

The pilot of the second aircraft quickly reported the accident to the Coast Guard and flew over the area.

Pilot David Lesh told KGO-TV that the purpose of the flight was to create images of his recently purchased aircraft over the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco Bay.

Instead, the plane lost power and Lesh had to drop it.

"He jumped down the water a few times, there was no impact, we were doing really well," Lesh told KGO. "We opened the door right away, we piled in. I grabbed my phone, objects with which to float and we stood on the wing as the plane floated. which was probably going to last 30 or 40 seconds. "

The pilot of the other plane, Owen Leipelt, and his passenger watched the plane touch the water.

The Coast Guard received a call from the second aircraft at approximately 6 pm and sent two planes, a cutter and a patrol boat.

Leipelt, meanwhile, continued to fly over the floating pair in the cold waters of Half Moon Bay.

"At one point, I lost them," Leipelt told KGO. "I was spinning around and I could not see them anymore, and David called me on the phone while he was hanging in the water." returned and he guided me to where he was. "

Lesh recorded a video while he and his friend had bombed the sea, watched the plane sink and the Coast Guard helicopter had hoisted it on board.

"The quick response from the second pilot, who reported the ground plane and remained on the ground, greatly helped the Coast Guard react quickly and save two lives," said Lieutenant-Colonel Cmdr. Joshua Murphy, the rescue pilot, said in a statement.

Editor's Note from the Navy Times: The Coast Guard told us that the BE-36 sank about 9 miles south of Pillar Point Harbor and that the call of the second aircraft had arrived at the San Francisco Coast Guard Command Center in San Francisco. about 18 hours. Tuesday.

Observers immediately released a MH-65 Dolphin rescue helicopter from the San Francisco Coast Guard Air Base, a C-27 Spartan mid-range surveillance aircraft from the Sacramento Coast Guard Air Base, and Hawksbill patrol, an 87-foot patrol boat, brought back to Monterey.

After 20 minutes, the Dolphin crew lifted the pilot and his passenger safely. They refused medical treatment and were taken to the Coast Guard Air Base in San Francisco, where firefighters at San Francisco International Airport checked their condition and reported no injuries.