Plane flips over after landing on sandbar in North Carolina, rescuers say
Two single-engine planes landed on a short stretch of wet sand in North Carolina and one of them flipped tail over nose onto its back, rescuers said.
The crash landing happened on Jay Bird Shoals, “which is essentially a sandbar between Oak Island and Bald Head Island, NC that is only visible near or at low tide,” according to a news release by Oak Island Water Rescue.
The pilot of the plane that tipped over received minor injuries.
Oak Island Water Rescue received a call about the crash from the Bald Head Island Department of Public Safety at 6 p.m. April 10, saying a plane had flipped over on Jay Bird Shoals, according OIWR.
Another plane had landed safely on the sand, according to the Facebook post, but the other began to sink into the wet sand as it slowed down — then flipped over,
The two planes were practicing landings near the shore and the pilot said they had landed there before, WECT reported.
Bald Head Island Public Safety told the outlet that landing at that location is not permitted.
The location made access to the plane difficult, the rescue group said in a Facebook post. The team flew a drone over the crash site to assist the rescuers.
“The OIWR drone provided our decision-makers with valuable information and visual perspective of the site of the crash,” the OIWR said on Facebook.
The team provided first-aid to the pilot and and transported them to a Coast Guard station Oak for treatment.
Rescuers helped flip the plane over and efforts were in place to get it off the sandbar before high tide, according to the Facebook post. The other plane took off without incident.
The U.S. Coast Guard Station Oak Island, Southport EMS and Towboat U.S. assisted the OIWR and the Bald Island Public Safety Department.
