VIDEO: A small plane that made an emergency landing on a Cape Cod beach Thursday safely returned to the skies with the help of some firefighters and a few gallons of fuel. The incident began at about 3:05 p.m. Thursday when a pilot radioed that he was out of fuel and making an emergency landing at Black Beach in Falmouth on Buzzards Bay.
The white and blue Cessna landed safely. The pilot was seen using red gas cans to refuel the aircraft. From Sky5, a team of Falmouth firefighters and others were seen pushing the aircraft down the beach, presumably to get it to a spot with enough running room for the plane to take off safely before the tide came in. After several attempts during which it appeared the plane’s wheels got stuck in the soft sand, the plane finally started rolling and gained enough speed to take off.
“It’s having enough of a ground run, because on sand you would need more of a ground run than you would on pavement. But he had that and police and fire kept everybody clear. So he had a clear shot to get out,” said Ed Stadelman of Falmouth who was on the beach helping during the ordeal. “He’s been flying for over 10 years. I don’t know exactly how long.”
Back in the air, the plane circled around and landed safely at a nearby airfield. The pilot waved and flashed a smile with a thumbs-up to Sky5. The Federal Aviation Administration said it is investigating.
