No one was injured Tuesday evening when a small plane crashed in the ocean near Ocean City, Maryland.
The pilot, 23-year-old Trevor Deihl, was the only occupant of the plane and was uninjured, according to a statement from Maryland State Police.
Witnesses told police that around 6:15 p.m., they saw a single-engine airplane crash into the ocean, about a quarter-mile from the shoreline, police said. The plane appeared to glide toward the water, then float on the surface of the ocean when it landed, police said.
Witness Charlotte Higdon told WJZ-TV she was on the beach when the plane crashed.
"I happened to look up, and I saw the plane coming right directly over top of us, and I said to my husband,: 'Look at that! That's strange! It's very close,'" Higdon said. "The engine was making a sputtering noise, and there was smoke coming out of the one side of it."
The airplane is a 1981 Cessna 172 RG, according to the police statement. Deihl told investigators he had taken off from Reedville, Virginia, and had planned to land at Ocean City Airport. He said he began having engine trouble when he was about a mile offshore and ultimately glided the plane into the ocean.
Maryland State Police are continuing to investigate the crash.
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