the runway and they were about to take off. >> sometimes we'll do air shows in between races or during the main race. in this case, this was like the event that kind of kicked the race off. >> i was getting the plane as it was coming in to land, it didn't really seem out of the ordinary to me. >> but the plane is in trouble. its engine stalls. and the pilot struggles to make the runway. at first, it looks to darby like the plane is going to make it. >> then as it was coming in, it just seemed like all of a sudden, it just dropped. it just hit the water. >> [ bleep ] dude. >> crashed and flipped forward. and it was just shocking, to say the least. >> immediately, boaters in the vicinity of the crash spring into action. >> all kinds of boats start speeding in to the plane, probably about ten of them. >> i think that some the boats that responded to the site were the police department because they had a boat already in the water for the race and i believe some coast guard as well.