A small plane pulling a banner crashed into the ocean near Hampton Beach in Hampton, New Hampshire, on Saturday afternoon.
The Hampton Fire Department said they started receiving multiple emergency phone calls just after noon reporting a small single engine aircraft had crashed into the water just off shore along the main beach. Responding crews found the plane had landed approximately 30 yards off shore.
Hampton police initially said they responded to the scene for an overturned aircraft in the water and that the pilot of the aircraft had been taken to a local hospital. The Hampton Fire Department said later Saturday that the pilot was assisted out of the water by New Hampshire state lifeguards and evaluated by EMS but was not transported by Hampton Fire.
Hampton police and state police marine patrol also assisted on scene.
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Wild video shared on Twitter showed the plane as it approached the water, then crash landing and flipping over on impact -- all within close view of beach crowds who were watching what was happening in disbelief.
An aviation expert tells NBC News the pilot did a remarkably great job in knowing they didn't want to land on the beach because it was full of people.
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The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed only the pilot was on board when the single-engine Piper PA-18 crashed into the ocean near Hampton Beach around noon during a banner tow operation.
An FAA investigator responded and cleared the scene, turning the plane back over to the property owner, the fire department said.
Adam Bagni shared video and photos on Twitter showing the aftermath of the plane crash. Bagni says a plane carrying an advertisement tried to land in the water only a couple hundred feet off shore when it flipped upside down.
According to Bagni, lifeguards ran out and a man was seen swimming away from the wreckage. Lifeguards later pulled the plane from the water where it was resting on the sand.
"It was like something out of a movie," said Bagni, who was at the beach with his family. "It hit nose first, the tail went up over the cabin and then it fell back down, people were screaming."
Multiple agencies were notified of the crash including the U.S. Coast Guard, the FAA, NHDOT Bureau of Aeronautics, state police and the NH Department of Environmental Services.
The FAA said it will help the National Transportation Safety Board as it investigates the crash. Other information was not immediately available Saturday.
