The Pilot Of The Bournemouth Air Festival Tragedy Dodged A 'Catastrophe'

After a plane fell into the water, injuring two people at the Bournemouth Air Festival, an eyewitness described how a pilot avoided a "catastrophe."

On Saturday, a wing-walker plane crashed away from the exhibition area off the coast of Bournemouth.

Alan Badenhorst assisted in the rescue of the couple by hauling them onto his boat in Poole Harbour. According to Dorset Police, the crew suffered minor injuries.

He described the pilot's performance as a "great feat of flying."

When Mr Badenhorst observed the low-flying aircraft, he was in a dinghy with his partner and their three young children.

"He remarked, "The plane continued dropping lower and lower." "The plane then slammed into the ocean and flipped over."

The father of one, from Wareham, Dorset, said his family then rushed to the Aerosuperbatics plane's help, dragging the pilot and a woman from the sea and into their dinghy. According to him, the plane sank shortly after.

"To be able to land in the sea between the rocks, our boats, and the chain ferry was an extraordinary piece of flying," he remarked.

He further stated that following the incident, the pilot dove beneath the water to assist in the rescue of his passenger.

Mr Badenhorst stated, "Had he fallen anyplace else, it would have been devastating... who knows what travesty might have transpired."