Minor injuries reported in morning plane crash near Vilano Causeway Boat Ramp

At about 9:40 a.m. Florida Highway Patrol troopers arrived on the scene at the Vilano Causeway Boat Ramp in response to a reported small plane crash. The pilot of the four-seater passenger plane was identified to Historic City News as 42-year-old John Bailey of Saint Augustine.

The sole passenger in the Mooney M20J aircraft, identified as 19-year-old Logan Boehime of Seminole Florida, suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was transported by St Johns County Fire Rescue to Flagler Hospital.

The pilot stated to officers that he was attempting to land the plane at the Northeast Florida Regional Airport in St Augustine when the plane suffered unknown mechanical failures. 

Bailey performed an emergency landing in the Intracoastal Waterway near the Vilano Causeway Boat Ramp.  Officers at the scene could not reach the plane which was in the water and not near to a roadway.

The FAA website says the plane is registered to Capital Sightseeing LLC in Virginia.  Although the Highway Patrol is routinely called in to make an initial report in aircraft crashes, as in this case, the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the cause of the crash.

Injuries to the pilot were reported as minor.

Image courtesy Florida Highway Patrol Public Information Office Troop G