'I hope nobody got killed': Watch as boat flies through air at dock in Key Largo, Florida
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s a boat, flying through the air in a Florida dock. The incident luckily left no injuries, just a wild ride.
Surveillance footage from The Fish Guyz, a charter boat operation, shows the vessel rapidly accelerating, then flying through the air before hitting a seawall of the Mote Marine Laboratory in Key Largo, Florida, early last Sunday.
Ron Jehle, who witnessed the crash from a nearby club, told local news station WPLG-TV of his first thoughts after seeing the flying boat.
“Oh my god, I hope nobody got killed," he said. "That’s the first thing I could think of ... I did see the one guy fly out of the boat − and this tree limb here came down on top of him.”
Daniel Roque, also the boat's owner, was on the boat at the time of the crash. His son, Daniel Roque Jr., told WPLG-TV that his father was trying to avoid other boats in the marina due to worsening wind conditions at the time.
“So that he wouldn’t hit them, he pulled the throttle forward − he slipped back and as he slipped back, the throttle went more forward and he lost control,” he said.
The man who was ejected from the boat was Roque's friend, but according to reports the unidentified man walked away with no injuries.
See the boat fly through the air
The video shows a calm scene at the dock before a boat rapidly accelerates, flies into the air and lands. Local reports say the boat ended up wedged in trees and caused significant damage to the dock.
Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected] and follow him on X @fern_cerv_.