“I Thought We Were Going To Drown!” Plane Crash Survivor Shares Story

Embarking on his usual Sunday morning flight, Rogin Taylor never imagined that shortly after take-off his two-seater plane, Savannah, would plunge into the ocean, leaving him fighting to breathe in a cabin that was quickly filling with water.

78-year-old Rogin has been flying for 54 years and has a commercial pilots license which had only ever used to fly recreational aircraft.

Part of ‘Whitsunday Flying Friends’, he has been joining a fleet of up to 12 other aircraft each Sunday morning on scenic flights down towards Bloomsbury.

On this particular morning, however, Rogin had taken a different path, eager to show his passenger some crocodiles in the Proserpine River.

Unfortunately, during this process the plane had started to lose altitude and before he could pull-up it suddenly hit the water.

“It made a huge bang and I actually thought we’d hit a boat,” explained Rogin.

Within minutes the plane started sinking into roughly three to four metres of water, in choppy ocean about 150 metres from the coast near Conway Beach.

“We couldn’t get the doors open and the plane started to sink,” said Rogin.

The external pressure was holding the doors closed and the pair used all their strength to try and push it open but to no avail.

Watching as the water started to rise past their feet, and then their waists, and finally up towards their chins, it wasn’t long before they realised they might drown.

“We both looked at each other and thought we might drown; it got up to our chin and then to our mouth and we took our last breath of air – the cockpit was completely full and totally submerged.”

In that moment, when many would think the panic would consume them, Rogin said the opposite happened.

“I was as close to death as I’ve ever come and at that point the terror and the panic went away, and I felt totally calm.

“I realised we were going to die, but neither of us were in any pain.

“When I spoke to my passenger afterwards, he said he felt the same, we had both accepted that we would drown and experienced a sense of calmness and tranquillity – it was so peaceful and there was no fear.”

Resigned to his fate, Rogin decided to take one giant gulp of water and thought that would be the end, but just then a miracle happened.

With the plane now completely submerged and water entirely filling the cabin, the pressure equalised and the door slowly opened.

Fortunately, Rogin was able to move fast.

He grabbed his passenger and the pair escaped through the door, swimming a few metres to the surface.

“At the surface we took a big gasp of air, and it was absolutely wonderful!” he said.

Sitting on the wing, which was still floating above the water, the survivors soon realised that the fight was not yet over, this was just a small reprieve.

They still needed to swim 150-metres to shore, fully clothed and passed a treacherous stretch of ocean known for its jelly fish, sharks and crocodiles.

Minutes later, the wing also sunk to the bottom and the pair were left alone in the ocean.

It took them over half an hour to reach the shore, swimming in choppy ocean and miraculously avoiding any hazards.

“When we reached the beach, we were pretty finished,” said Rogin.

“We crawled up the beach and just lay there. After a while we started walking around the point.”

Fortunately, someone had seen the incident and had already raised the alarm.

When the ambulance arrived, however, Rogin and his passenger were in shock but otherwise in good health and were permitted to return home.

“I will go flying again this week!” laughed Rogin.

“I asked my passenger too and he said he would go up in a plane again with me anytime too!”

Within three hours of the incident three planes from Rogin’s flying group had flown up from Mackay to search for the submerged plane.

Five other pilots came to the beach to help as well.

“The camaraderie and concern from the other pilots was just amazing and overwhelming,” said Rogin.

“The following day the plane was spotted, it’s tail coming out of the water like a breaching whale!”

Able to bring it to shore, Robin has now spent most of this week retrieving useable parts from the wreck and says he will likely have nightmares for years to come but is very grateful to have survived.  

By Rachael Smith

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The two-seater recreational plane, Savannah, with a motto emblazoned across the side saying ‘nothing ventured nothing gained’. Photo credit: Paul Douthwaite