A scary scene in Bimini after a seaplane crashed into a dock while attempting to take off Saturday morning. Ten people were on board, but thanks to quick action from nearby boaters, everyone made it out safely.
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Video shows the moments inside the aircraft when a warning sound was heard before a Tropic Ocean Airways seaplane, a Florida-registered company, crashed into a dock in North Bimini.
Jack Davoudpour said he was aboard a yacht when he heard a loud crash.
“The captain said there was a plane crash. Let’s go,” Davoudpour said. “We go to the boat, and I see the plane is half sunk.”
They jumped into their dinghy and rushed toward the aircraft as passengers tried to escape.
“Caught on two passengers into our plane. There’s also one female passenger, who I believe was around my age. She was still on the plane, and she threw me her bag,” Davoudpour said. “She said, ‘Please, take my things,’ cause like, they were on the plane still, it’s halfway sunk already.”
Another boater, Nick Pavlakis, also saw what happened and came over to help pull passengers from the sinking plane.
“We saw people panicking,” he said.
Police say the aircraft was carrying eight passengers and two crew members, all U.S. citizens. Officials say while attempting to depart, the plane encountered heavy vessel traffic and the pilot diverted north in search of a safer route.
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“You could see immediately it was starting to tilt. They told everybody to get out, and it started taking on some water on the left side of the plane,” Davoudpour said.
Police say while taxiing on the water, the aircraft began pulling to the left. Despite attempts to correct its course, the plane collided with a dock.
“As the pilot was getting out, he barely had time to get out,” Davoudpour said.
The plane later sank in approximately 100 feet of water. Police say all 10 people on board were safely evacuated by nearby boaters before officers arrived, and no injuries were reported.
“If it happened to be at 5 in the morning or late at night or anywhere other than where it was, if it was further up ahead, nobody would’ve seen it. It would’ve been a different story,” Davoudpour said.
All people were evacuated safely thanks to those rescuers. The crash is still under investigation.
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