Two pilots survive after crash-landing in Lake Mead

LAKE MEAD, NV (3TV/CBS 5) - Engine failure forced a pair of pilots to ditch a small plane into Lake Mead earlier this month, and they survived virtually unscathed.

Chad Rodgers and Charles Wood took off from Grand Canyon Airport on the night of Oct. 1 and realized something was wrong just 30 minutes into the air. “I saw sparks and flames coming out of my side of the engine, Chad never saw that on his side, the cockpit filled with smoke,” said Wood.

“My first reaction was, I’m going to die,” said Rodgers. Instead of panicking, Rodgers jumped on the radio, and the pair worked together to figure out where to land. “Chad asked what’s directly below us and they said ‘you’re over the lake right now’,” said Wood. “Once I heard the lake was beneath me, I was 100% confident we are going to live,” said Rodgers. The pilot was confident in the pair’s safety with reduced impact landing on the water. “It was probably 30-40 seconds after we landed, the plane flipped over, it was already pretty much sunk,” said Rodgers.

It only took three minutes from when the engine failed to the pilot landing in Lake Mead. They swam away from the crash as the plane fully submerged under water. The two were left uninjured from the crash. “I think there was a bigger hand at play other than good piloting and aviation. I think we definitely had some angels and God looking over us,” said Rodgers.

The two pilots lost all of their personal belongings in the water and created a GoFundMe to help replace items. If you’d like to help, click here.

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