He may not be as skilled as Sully, but a small plane pilot is lucky to be alive after he made a dramatic landing in the Pacific Ocean on Friday night.
A man flying a Cessna 310 twin-engine aircraft from California to Hawaii ran out of gas on Friday night and had to ditch his plane 13 miles off the coast of Hawaii, the Coast Guard said in a statement.
He had estimated he would run out of fuel 100 miles short of his destination and the Coast Guard deployed rescue crews which helped escort his plane to a safe landing.
"We were communicating to him the entire time," Lt. Gene Maestas told The Associated Press. "The pilots were telling him how to make the airplane ready ... to lighten, tie things down, adjust the seat."
Finally, 13 miles from his destination, the pilot was forced to ditch his aircraft – and climbed out of the cockpit onto the wing.
"We basically talked him down," Maestas added, telling the AP that they told the pilot to fly in a low angle to the water and touch down parallel to the waves.
The incident was caught in dramatic video posted to the Coast Guard’s website.
The Coast Guard sent a rescue swimmer to pick up the pilot, who was reported to be coherent with no significant injuries. The plane sank just minutes later.
The pilot's identity was not revealed, but authorities told CNN that that the aircraft was registered to an airplane ferry service based in South Carolina.
"We feel very fortunate that we were able to save this man's life," Maestas said
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