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Emergency Plane Landing on Portugal Beach Ends in Tragedy

Thursday, August 03, 2017 at 01:33 AM ET

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Key Takeaways:

An emergency landing of a light aircraft on São João da Caparica beach in Portugal resulted in the deaths of an eight-year-old girl and a 56-year-old man.
The incident occurred during a training flight when the pilot reported a malfunction, causing the aircraft to run over two people upon touchdown on the crowded beach.
The experienced pilot and his student were uninjured but were taken into custody by maritime police amidst public anger, as witnesses reportedly tried to assault them.
The reason why an experienced pilot chose a crowded beach for the emergency landing instead of a potential water landing remains unclear.

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