THE VILLAGES, Fla. – Dick Goosman vividly remembers how his three-hour flight from Columbia, South Carolina to Spruce Creek Landing in Port Orange was cut 10 minutes short.
"A couple seconds later, the engine stopped," Goosman said. "No decision to be made - it was going to go into the water."
His small plane crash-landed in the water just 100 feet off Daytona Beach Shores in October. Goosman, a pilot with 30 years of experience, was in the process of moving from North Carolina to Florida with his wife, and had been on his way to sell his plane to a dealer in Volusia County.
"You talk about panic-- it was, for an instant, but not much more," he said.
When the plane first hit the water, Goosman watched as the plane started to sink, and he struggled to find a way out.
"The plane was filling up with water. Then panic started," he said. "I got to the point where I thought I was going to go down, sink and drown, after I made a successful crash. It was filling up with water, and sinking is enough to put panic into anybody."
Out of frustration, Goosman banged his legs against the plane door, and broke a window, through which he was able to escape. At that point, Goosman was unaware of how close he was to the shore.
"I was on my own and suddenly I wasn't," he said. "I saw the lifeguards and, oh, my God, it was a relief to see them. I had no expectation of seeing them."
Goosman was taken to the hospital with only a few scrapes and cuts and was released hours later. He hasn't given up his love of flying; he flew in a P-51 Warbird this past February.
The Federal Aviation Administration told News 6 it is still investigating the October crash but a preliminary report points out that there were still 3.5 gallons of fuel left in the plane when the engine stopped, which was more than enough for Goosman to reach his destination.