A seasoned pilot had to be pulled from the wreckage of his plane after having to make an emergency water landing, which went horribly wrong. 

Mark Finkelstein was rescued from his single-engine plane on August 2 near Oak Island Pier, North Carolina, after he was forced to land the aircraft in the water unexpectedly.

The plane’s engine began to malfunction, leaving Finkelstein, who has 17 years of flying experience, without the option to return to an airport, and he was compelled to land in the ocean.

Footage shows his plane coming in low and skidding across the top of the surface, before it flips over and lands in the water upside down.

Images taken of the plane after show it mostly submerged in an upright position, with a small pocket of air on the back of the cabin. 

Rescuers had to navigate Finkelstein out from the plane by guiding him feet-first underwater and through the windshield, as reported by the Oak Island Fire Department.

He had only been in the air for 13 minutes when he recalled that the ‘engine just stopped’ to WECT 6. 

‘It was literally going to be about a 20-minute flight just down the length of Oak Island, turn around and come back in,’ he said. 

Dramatic footage captured the moment a pilot was saved from a plane crash near Oak Island Pier, North Carolina, following an emergency water landing on August 2, which went awry.

Finkelstein was unable to return to Cape Fear Regional Jetport and noticed the beach near Oak Island Pier was too crowded, making water landing his only option.

The pilot, Mark Finkelstein, encountered engine trouble with the plane, leading to an emergency landing on water shortly after 7:30 pm.

‘At some point, the engine started to lose power so the RPM started to go down. The engine just stopped altogether and the propeller just stopped and at that point it was very clear that I was going to be making a landing in the water,’ he added. 

Finkelstein hadn’t been able to make it back to Cape Fear Regional Jetport, and saw the beach near Oak Island Pier was too crowded, so he attempted to land on the water. 

The Fire Department said in a release: ‘The plane came to rest mostly submerged in an upright position.

‘Surviving on a small pocket of air in the back of the aircraft’s cabin, Finkelstein was guided by rescuers feet-first, under the water and out through the windshield.’

It took less than 30 seconds for Finkelstein to be pulled from the wreck, according to the release. 

The video captured Finkelstein being rescued from the front window of the aircraft and helped onto a water rescue raft.   

Finkelstein amazingly only sustained a cut to his leg, which he received stitches for at hospital.

The video captured Finkelstein being rescued from the front window of the aircraft and helped onto a water rescue raft

Finkelstein said that he was grateful for the swift response of emergency services who rescued him from the wreckage

‘Members of the Oak Island Beach Safety Unit, as well as the Southport Fire Department and Oak Island Water Rescue were already in the area, having just responded to a water rescue call nearby,’ the release said. 

‘Within minutes of his landing in the water, units from multiple agencies were at the plane, and able to swiftly recover Mr. Finkelstein, transporting him back to shore.’

‘I wasn’t focused on what I was going to do as a result of the crash, I was focused on the training and what I felt I needed to do,’ Finkelstein said. 

‘You know, get the door open before I landed, that sort of thing. I just focused on what I needed to do and wasn’t thinking further ahead than that.’

The pilot only sustained a cut to his leg, which he received stitches for at hospital

Finkelstein said that he was grateful for the swift response of emergency services who rescued him from the wreckage. 

‘I was so fortunate that the impact didn’t injure me and doubly fortunate that the Oak Island Water Rescue got to me so quickly. That was huge. That was the key to the whole thing,’ he said.