Wisecracking Pilot Lands on NYC Beach

Landing a single-engine aircraft on a beach takes skill but the FAA isn't impressed with a young pilot who brought his plane down on New York City's Rockaway Beach on Monday night because of an airsick passenger. Wisecracking pilot Jason Maloney, 24, offered air traffic controllers a variety of excuses before telling them that he was going to land at the beach without declaring an emergency, reports the New York Times. (Sample comment to air traffic control: "Just let us know if we’re up in your grill, you know?")

Maloney, who landed the plane without injury to himself or his two passengers as police cars, firefighters, and a police helicopter rushed to the scene, may lose his pilot's license over the stunt. He told police that he got the idea for a beach landing from the Discovery Channel's Flying Wild Alaska. "What’s the big deal? It happens all the time in Alaska," he told the first police office to arrive at the beach. "Welcome to New York," the officer replied. (More emergency landing stories.)