Ohio family witnesses viral WWII era bomber plane crash in Cocoa Beach, FL

COCOA BEACH, FL (FOX19) -A family from Ohio witnessed a World War II bomber plane crash along the shore while in Cocoa Beach, FL. for a cheerleading competition.

Amber Ditmer and her family were at the beach to take maternity photos for the eldest daughter when they saw the plane riding a little too low to shoreline.

“I was getting my camera ready to take pictures of her and so I was actually taking photos of Miya by the water to make sure I had my settings right and turned around and the plane was coming in so low I was like, ‘this will be cool to catch,’” Amber said.

The video below may contain offensive language.

The plane was from the Cocoa Beach Airshow and beachgoers could only watch as it came dangerously close to the shore.

“I seen the plane come down low and I was like ‘hey watch he’s going to do a low fly by’ at that second he actually did a belly bump off a wave which looked intentional because there were some people in front of him.” Amber’s husband Brian Ditmer said.

In a Facebook post the Airshow’s page confirmed the crash and said a TBM Avenger experienced a mechanical issue but the pilot was able to bring the plane down close to shore.

“It kind of shocked me because I thought they were going to do a trick also and I was like ‘this is going to be so cool’ and then he’s just down in the water and everyone is jumping in trying to help,” Brian said.

Reports out of Florida indicate that no one was injured, the pilot is okay and crews will work to retrieve the plane from the water before being able to determine the cause of the mechanical failure.

“He missed a lot of people. If it would have went down the first time he hit water it would have not been good. Like I said, he did an amazing job,” Brian said.

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