Waru.... sorry to disappoint you
Ok... well.. In January 2001 my cousin was flying a Polish single engine plane (can't recall the name of it) over the crowded new years beaches of Auckland Harbour.
He was towing an advertising banner.
Everything was perfect. Not a cloud in the sky. Beaches packed, almost no wind... The tide was low and the engine in the plane seized - ok.. so maybe not so perfect.
He dropped the banner quickly because there was no way the plane was going to start. There were two people in the plane. My cousin continued to navigate the plane knowing he didn't have the altitude to get to any local airport or grass strip.
Auckland is very hilly as well, so finding a flat spot to land on the busiest weeks of the year (New Years)
The only thought was to hope like hell and ditch the plane in the water.
Losing altitude and slowing the plane down they tried to navigate into a busy part of the water so if they did suffer injuries there wouldn't be long before someone would rescue them. It all seemed well planned - but knowing they wouldn't be getting out of this without a scratch.
As they lowered even more altitude Tony (my cousin) noticed that the mudflats around Devonport were empty of people (they're not really that pretty) and might be a good place to ditch the plane.
Now this took skill!
No engine... The correct loss of altitude and only about 40m of mud to land on....
The plane stopped within 10m of landing - almost in slow motion. The plane just up ended and stopped almost upside down.
He was as lucky as they come - and was quickly greeted by rescuers.
Not a scratch on him...
So it is possible - and it does happen... But... Is this one for real?
