PEMBROKE PINES, FLA. (WSVN) - A pilot who crashed landed at North Perry Airport and was trapped inside the wreckage is speaking out on what happened. He said things could have been worse.
On Oct. 26, officials reported that a Mooney M20E crash-landed just before 2:30 p.m. at the airport, located at 101 SW 77th Way. As neighbors heard the plane crash, the sound of impact reverberated through the area. The plane came down on the east side of the airport, just feet away from Pembroke Pines Fire Rescue’s station.
Michael David was working on the next level of his certification when he had to maneuver the plane out of harms way when it starting having problems.
“I’ve already had people say, ‘Hey, maybe next time you should fly with two engines, so if one goes out, you have another backup,'” David said.
The 34-year-old only suffered a broken heel when he crash landed his small plane at the airport.
“It was a little bit windy that day, but the winds were in favor, so they were right down the runway,” he said.
David was practicing taking off and landing.
“Everything looked good to me, I had enough runway left, I was like, ‘No, let me take off again,’ I put full power, took off,” he said.
David knew right away that something was wrong.
“In an instant, you feel you have your life, your holding onto it and you’re like, ‘This is it,'” he said.
He then turned around as he thought about landing on the street but there was no time.
“There were so many cars and people and I was like, ‘That’s not going to work,’ so I shifted a little bit over,” he said.
He wound up in near the sidewalk, just feet from first responders.
“The cop told me I couldn’t have parked it better,” he said.
Thankfully, no one on the ground was injured and bystanders rushed to help and call 911.
One of those bystanders didn’t leave David’s side.
“I just held his hand to let him know he’s not alone,” Teresa Shaia said.
It is something, David said, he’ll never forget.
“She just sat on the wing and she just held my hand, didn’t say anything and it was just, she was like, ‘You’re OK, you’re OK,” he said.
Federal investigators are investigating the cause of the crash.
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