Luck Was On Their Side

Two men are happy to be alive... and dry... after the two swam for 90 minutes Thursday night after their plane went down in a lake during a thunderstorm near Leesburg, FL.

Officials said pilot Shelton Kinser and his passenger, Matthew Gerig, were approaching Leesburg Regional Airport (KLEE) aboard a Cessna 152 (file photo of type, center right) when something went wrong, and it became clear to Kinser they weren't going to make the runway.

Faced with limited options, Kinser landed the plane in the waters of Lake Harris. Both men scrambled to get out of the aircraft -- and then began the long swim towards shore, screaming for help all the way.

"When I kept sinking, I said, 'I'm not going to make it,'" Gerig recounted to WKMG-6. "I was not making any progress and I had not heard from him in about an hour, so I thought he sank. As soon as we got out of the plane, he said, "I'm going to drown, I'm going to drown."

As the men approached the shore, several neighbors heard the men's pleas for help. One of them, Bob Geyman, along with two others took his pontoon boat out on the lake to try to find the two other men.

They found Kinser first, who told his rescuers to find Gerig before they hauled him aboard.

"He yelled out, 'There's another person out there and he's struggling,'" Bob Geyman told the Orlando Sentinel. Gerig was found about 200 yards away.

"He looked like he was really in danger. He was starting to sink," Geyman said. Both men had ripped off their clothes to avoid sinking in the lake.

The rescuers pulled Gerig aboard and then went back to pick up Kinser.

"They were shivering. The water was about 80 degrees," Geyman said. "They said, 'My God, we didn't think we were going to make it.'"

"I'm glad I was able to help them," Geyman added. "When you hear someone yelling "help", I don't think about whether it could be a prank. I wanted to go out and try to help."

By the time crews reached the site of the actual accident, the plane was completely submerged, according to media reports.

**   Report created 5/12/2006   Record 6                   
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IDENTIFICATION
  Regis#: 93152        Make/Model: C152      Description: 152, A152, Aerobat
  Date: 05/12/2006     Time: 0030

  Event Type: Incident   Highest Injury: Minor     Mid Air: N    Missing: N
  Damage: Unknown

LOCATION
  City: LEESBURG   State: FL   Country: US

DESCRIPTION
  ACFT MADE A FORCED LANDING INTO LAKE HARRIS SHORT OF THE RUNWAY, LEESBURG,
  FL

INJURY DATA      Total Fatal:   0
                 # Crew:   1     Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   1     Unk:   
                 # Pass:   1     Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   1     Unk:   
                 # Grnd:         Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   

WEATHER: NOT REPORTED

OTHER DATA

  Departed:                             Dep Date:    Dep. Time:     
  Destination:                          Flt Plan:              Wx Briefing: 
  Last Radio Cont: 
  Last Clearance: 

  FAA FSDO: ORLANDO, FL  (SO15)                   Entry date: 05/12/2006

FMI: www.faa.gov