Swiss-Canadian Pilot speaks from Hospital bed; was THREE HOURS in TCI waters after Crash Landing

By Wilkie Arthur, Danae Dennie, Deandrea Hamilton

Editorial Team

#TurksandCaicos, June 22, 2024 – For three hours in the wide open Atlantic Ocean, the two men who were aboard a twin engine aircraft forced on Saturday to crash land in waters near Providenciales held onto hope and each other, certain they would be rescued. Miraculously both men are now back on dry ground and are expected to make a full recovery, with local doctors reporting only superficial wounds as evidence of their harrowing experience.

Islanders in the Turks and Caicos learned about the aircraft mayday around 12:30 p.m.

“The Coast Guard received information from dispatch.  Survivors contacted dispatch by satellite phone saying they can see the helicopter.  Two persons in the water wearing yellow life jackets.  Several boats, as well as helicopter still actively searching,” was a key update shared with us around the time the men were pulled from the water.

It was shared with Magnetic Media that the private flight took off from Palm Beach, Florida around 8 a.m. on June 22 that the duo ran into some problems over the Turks and Caicos where they had planned to make a fuel stop.  Instead of refueling, there was an “orchestrated decent”; something pilots are trained to perform in the event of an emergency.

Wilkie Arthur of Eagle Legal News secured an interview with the man piloting the plane. He confirmed it was a twin engine aircraft, that both people on board survived and that he was Swiss-Canadian, his passenger, a Frenchman.

“The water was warm (pilot laughs) and I knew it was important for us to stay together, with each other and I had the watch and he had the phone and we just tried to get somebody to find us because it is hard to see such a small airplane in the swells but if they know that some people are alive, then they keep searching.”

The Swiss Canadian who opted to withhold his identity said that he was in good spirits and commended the rescue effort.

“I guess everybody is happy.  It was good coordination from local and US Coast Guard and the folks here, taking care of us.”

The men are being treated at the Cheshire Hall Medical Centre in Providenciales, brought in by ambulance minutes before 5 p.m.

Mr. Arthur spoke to the pilot as he lay, bandaged but grateful in a hospital bed.

In a press release, the Turks and Caicos Minister for Aviation, Arlington Musgrove expressed his thanks to the various agencies and the TCI boating community for their rapid response.

“Your service is commendable and is demonstrable of the rich community spirit that exists in the Turks and Caicos Islands.”