Town of Oak Island
A North Carolina pilot who survived a harrowing emergency landing in the ocean off Oak Island has returned to personally thank the first responders who pulled him from his sinking aircraft, as newly released video shows the dramatic rescue from above.
On Aug. 2 at 7:33 p.m., Mark Finkelsteins single-engine plane began experiencing engine failure. He was unable to return to Cape Fear Regional Jetport, but saw that the beach was crowded with visitors, so he made the decision to put his plane down in the Atlantic near the Oak Island Pier at 705 Ocean Drive.
Within minutes of the splashdown, members of the Oak Island Beach Safety Unit, Southport Fire Department and Oak Island Water Rescue — already in the area responding to another water rescue — were alongside the partially submerged aircraft and able to recover Finkelstein and bring him back to shore…