Pilot dragged out of submerged cockpit after emergency landing near busy beach

Drone footage shows a pilot being dragged by his legs out of a submerged cockpit after ditching his plane in the ocean to avoid a busy beach. While flying over Oak Island beach in North Carolina, the small aircraft experienced an engine failure. Unable to return to the Cape Fear Regional Jetport, and seeing the beach area to be crowded, the pilot made the decision to perform an emergency landing in the ocean. Within minutes of landing in the water near the pier, units from the Oak Island Beach Safety Unit were at the plane.