Peninsula Pilot Crashes, Still Considered Lucky

Nearby training mission saved his life.

The pilot who survived a plane crash into the water off Pillar Point in Half Moon Bay today was hospitalized for hypothermia, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

His yellow 1946 Aeronca plane crashed into the water about 10 miles off the coast at about 3 p.m.

A Coast Guard C-130 airplane on a training mission nearby responded to the crash and dropped a life raft, survival suit and flares to  the pilot and sole occupant of the plane, according to the Coast Guard. Two  Coast Guard boats also went to the area.

"We were just in the right place at the right time," said Coast Guard Lt. Randall Black, the pilot of the C-130.

An Air National Guard helicopter, which had just completed joint training operations with the Coast Guard and was headed to Air Station San  Francisco, also responded to the area and liftedthe man out of the water at  about 3:20 p.m.

Black said the pilot suffered "extreme hypothermia" and was taken to San Francisco General Hospital.

The victim's plane sunk and is unsalvageable, according to the Coast Guard.

Copyright BAYCN - Bay City News
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