A small private plane crashed into the shallows off Mosfellsbær, a neighboring town of Reykjavík yesterday. The pilot, who was the only one onboard, managed to break out of the wreck and wade ashore. Two golfers, who witnessed the accident, came to his assistance.
The young pilot, Magnús Hlini Víkingur Magnússon, had just passed his pilot exam that very morning and was practicing liftoff and landing at Tungubakkaflugvöllur airport near the golf course in Mosfellsbær when the accident occurred, RÚV reports.
Magnús, who only suffered minor injuries—which is considered to be miraculous—said that while making a turn, the plane had suddenly started falling. “I wasn’t being careless … I’ve landed there many hundred times before. It was just an accident.”
Magnús doesn’t remember crashing. “I just remember that I was in the ocean and I was afraid that I would sink deeper, I didn’t know it was so shallow.”
The plane was submerged in water. “I couldn’t exit the doors because the plane was upside down. I think I broke my way out with my back but I’m not sure. I remember trying to punch out the window, but it didn’t work. I found a pocket of air … took a breath and kicked against the plane.”
