Jaw-Dropping Video Shows Incredible Rescue of a Pilot After His Plane Crashed Into the Ocean Off the North Carolina Coast

Stunning new footage shows the remarkable rescue of a pilot after his plane crashed into the ocean off the North Carolina coast.

In the newly-released drone video of the Aug. 2 crash, you can see the two-seater aircraft flip over as it crashed into the Atlantic off the coast of Oak Island, NC after an engine failure. According to city officials, the pilot — Mark Finklestein — could only breathe a small pocket of air in the back of the cabin.

But the dramatic footage shows two rescuers rushing to the aircraft, and yanking Finklestein out of the submerged aircraft feet-first through the windshield. The first responders then pulled Finklestein onto a rescue raft, and were able to quickly take him to safety.

In an interview earlier this month with Wilmington, NC NBC affiliate WECT, Finklestein described the harrowing moments when he was stuck under water.

“I wasn’t focused on what I was going to do as a result of the crash; I was focused on the training and what I felt I needed to do,” Finklestein said. “You know, get the door open before I landed, that sort of thing. I just focused on what I needed to do and wasn’t thinking further ahead than that.”

The pilot added, “I was so fortunate that the impact didn’t injure me and doubly fortunate that the Oak Island Water Rescue got to me so quickly. That was huge. That was the key to the whole thing.”

Watch above, via Fox Weather.