DEKALB COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — A student pilot is grateful to a fisherman and first responders for helping him after his small plane crashed in Center Hill Lake Tuesday afternoon.
James Luna was practicing his takeoffs and landings in an ICON A5 single-engine amphibious aircraft on Tuesday, Feb. 25. According to Luna, as he was landing, he realized he forgot to raise his landing gear and crashed into the water.
“I didn’t really feel in jeopardy of my life [because] I wasn’t going that fast,” Luna said. “I don’t know; it happened real quick.”
After Luna’s plane went down, a fisherman saw him and immediately came to help. Luna is thankful to the fisherman and the many emergency personnel who responded to the scene, including the DeKalb County Fire Department, the Smithville-DeKalb County Rescue Squad, the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department, DeKalb County Emergency Medical Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA).
“The fisherman…he came right over there, he called 911. I didn’t know he called 911. He showed up and helped me get on his boat, and then we were waiting,” Luna recalled, adding that it didn’t take long for first responders to arrive.
According to officials, the plane did not catch on fire and no spills were reported.
Luna avoided serious injury and ended up with just a few scratches after the incident. He told News 2 the crash won’t stop his love for flying.
Luna spent part of Wednesday, Feb. 26 on his pontoon boat, going to the plane crash site. He said the aircraft is wrecked and no longer in service.
According to the DeKalb County non-emergency line, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is investigating this incident.
