One If By Land, Two If By Sea

Just after takeoff from Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport (SRQ) at 9:00 Friday morning, Robert Cropper, 53, landed his 1977 Aero Commander 112TCA (file photo of type, below) in waist-deep waters of Sarasota Bay... the first of two emergency landings in the area that day.

FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said Cropper was enroute to Venice, but began experiencing technical problems. He had been given clearance to land back at SRQ, but didn't make the runway -- landing just 50-100 yards offshore.

Jay Frank, spokesman for the Sarasota Police Department, told the Herald Tribune that Cropper and passenger Kevin Underwood, 40, both of Sarasota, sustained minor injuries, mostly cuts and scrapes.

Fisheries research technicians with Mote Marine, who were studying fish populations from a boat just 300 yards from the splashdown, immediately went to the aid of Cropper and Underwood. "We put some life jackets on them, got a couple of their things from the plane and brought them on the boat," said researcher Darren Pecora. "They were pretty much already out of the plane. They looked OK."

A police spokesman identified the cause of the emergency landing as a fuel problem.

Just two and a half hours later, pilot Remy Dulay, 37, and passenger Raj Atwal, 24, were forced to make an emergency landing on Fruitville Road east of Interstate 75, a few miles east of downtown Sarasota.

The Piper Cherokee Dulay and Atwal were piloting from Fort Lauderdale to St. Petersburg started losing power shortly before 11:30 a.m. Dulay said he began looking or a safe road or field as soon as he knew he wasn't going to make it to Sarasota-Bradenton International (SRQ).

(Editor's Note: The jury is still out on exactly which model aircraft was involved. The Sarasota Sun-Herald reports it to be a Piper Comanche PA-24)

"You practice this," Dulay told the Herald Tribune. "When I fly, I'm always with loved ones like my wife or kids, so it's something you have to remember how to do."

And the people said, Amen.

FMI: www.faa.gov/data_statistics/accident_incident/preliminary_data/