Pilot ditches twin-engine plane in Atlantic Ocean off Boca Raton after landing gear and engine failure; no injuries
A 23-year-old pilot ditched her twin-engine plane in the Atlantic about 2 miles east of Boca Raton Airport on Saturday around 9:40 a.m. after landing gear and right-engine failure, escaping without injuries.
Original report
www.wpbf.com
Industry impact
The episode underscores how a dual mechanical failure combined with a heavy fuel load can make a water landing the safer option than a runway approach for small twin-engine aircraft.
What happened
Faith Tenkley, a 23-year-old pilot with four years of flying experience, ditched her small twin-engine plane in the Atlantic Ocean about 2 miles east of Boca Raton Airport on Saturday morning at approximately 9:40 a.m. She was flying to the Bahamas to pick up her parents when mechanical problems developed roughly 15 miles west of Boca Raton, involving failure of the landing gear and the right engine.
Tenkley determined that landing on a runway posed too great a danger because the aircraft was carrying a significant amount of fuel, and she chose instead to set the plane down in an open stretch of ocean. She was the only person aboard and was not injured.
Witnesses Michael and Alexis Arizzi, aboard a nearby dive boat, saw the plane flying unusually low before it descended into the water, contacted the U.S. Coast Guard, and gathered emergency supplies to assist. Michael Arizzi, who works as an aircraft mechanic, called it "a flawless water landing," while Alexis Arizzi said Tenkley "was in control the entire time." A professional pilot and flight instructor identified only as Jeremy, who also witnessed the landing, said the aircraft being intact suggested the pilot had flown it all the way down. The Federal Aviation Administration is leading the investigation, and the U.S. Coast Guard plans to retrieve the aircraft.
Industry impact & what to watch
Dual failures involving landing gear and an engine on a fuel-heavy aircraft are the kind of scenario emergency training is built around, and this case shows the doctrine working as intended: fly the aircraft under control to the point of touchdown, wherever that point turns out to be.
For small twin-engine operations, a water ditching a short distance from a coastal airport is a recognized outcome when a runway landing carries its own risks, such as excess fuel load increasing fire danger on impact. The presence of nearby boaters able to alert the Coast Guard quickly also reflects how proximity to populated coastal or recreational waters can shape survivability in this kind of emergency.
The Federal Aviation Administration's investigation will determine what caused the landing gear and engine failures, and its findings will be the next material development in this case.
Who this affects
- Business Charter Operators — A twin-engine aircraft's gear and engine failure near Boca Raton, forcing a water landing instead of a runway approach, highlights overwater contingency risk on Florida-to-Bahamas routes.
- Aviation Insurance Companies — A water-landing hull claim near Boca Raton follows dual mechanical failure, with causation pending the Federal Aviation Administration's investigation.
The underlying facts come from the originating publisher (linked above). The narrative, industry-impact assessment and per-role analysis below are produced independently by the AVI-GO intelligence team from public information. Cite as: AVI-GO, "Pilot ditches twin-engine plane in Atlantic Ocean off Boca Raton after landing gear and engine failure; no injuries" news brief, 2026-08-24.
How to cite
AVI-GO, “Pilot ditches twin-engine plane in Atlantic Ocean off Boca Raton after landing gear and engine failure; no injuries”. https://ai.avi-go.com/news/ai-news-center/news-briefs/pilot-ditches-twin-engine-plane-in-atlantic-ocean-off-boca-raton-after-c8b198b3755c09f6a257e8ab437f08ac
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