Onlookers Impressed by Helicopter’s Quick Removal of Airplane from Susquehanna River
Curious minds interested in witnessing a single-engine Piper airplane being removed from the Susquehanna River Wednesday didn’t let the rain stop them from seeing it.
JJ Anglin of Anglin Aircraft Recovery, hired by the owner of the airplane, lifted the small aircraft out of the water and successfully landed it at Harrisburg International Airport. The plane had been in the river since Oct. 4, when the pilot made an emergency landing between Three Mile Island and the airport.
Both the pilot and the passenger survived.
The announcement of the plane’s imminent departure grabbed the attention of dozens of onlookers. As time ticked past 3 p.m., the number of motorists entering Water Street in Middletown near the scene increased.
Some got out of their cars and asked, "is it gone?”
Middletown police eventually blocked drivers from entering.
As rain pelted cars, and individuals standing outdoors, suspense grew among onlookers as to how the removal of it was going to look or if it would be successful.
"I’ve been tracking its progress over the last 12 days,” said Shippensburg University sophomore Sarah Rothrock.
She admitted she skipped her classes to watch, partly because she’s interested in aviation. She said she’d like to obtain her pilot’s license in the future.
"The last time something like this happened, it was in the 1990s,” the 20-year-old said. “I think the only other option would have been to take the plane apart, but the four they removed in the ’90s, they used helicopters, too.”
Once crews motored out to the airplane on boats, harnessed it and then again motored out of harm’s way, a Sikorsky helicopter arrived a few minutes later. When onlookers heard the helicopter’s approach in the distance, they jumped out of their cars, grabbed their phones and cameras, and started to archive the moment.
Prior to the removal, Lynn Leming, of New Cumberland, said she had stopped by the airplane twice. This was her third 50-minute round trip to see it. Leming said she wanted to record it to share with her autistic students.
She waited two hours to watch its six-minute ascent.
"We were going to stay until somebody told us to leave,” she said. “It didn’t happen the way I thought it would happen. I thought they would lift it up and tip it to get the water out. What they did, it was very professional. It was like watching it take off and fly again.”
Also standing on the shoreline were 9-year-old Hannah Scetanovic and her step-dad Sam Sattazan.
Watching the airplane being removed would be "cool,” Sattazan said, adding he wanted to share it with Hannah. The John C. Kunkle Elementary School student said she was “excited” to see the story end positively.
"This is the first time I get to see something like this in my life,” Sattazan said. "I told her, you’re probably not going to see something like this again, so let’s go.”
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