MIAMI – A pilot who survived a fiery plane crash in the Everglades over the weekend is speaking publicly about the incident from his hospital bed at Jackson Memorial Hospital.
Kenneth McKenzie, 53, suffered burns in the Sunday crash, but is grateful that he and his wife were able to make it out of the plane alive.
McKenzie will have to undergo extensive rehab and perhaps surgery down the road, but he is in good spirits.
The pilot was surrounded Tuesday with flowers, balloons and cards from his loved ones.
McKenzie and his wife, Sonia, said they were heading to Virginia to visit their daughter Sunday when their plane suffered engine trouble just minutes after taking off from Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport.
McKenzie is an experienced pilot, who served as a pilot in the Canadian military. He is also the former chief operating officer of Spirit Airlines. His experience may be what helped him land as safely as possible in an open area.
"I didn't expect the aircraft to catch fire, and so when the aircraft came to a stop, the aircraft was surrounded in flames, (and) it was really, really warm in the aircraft," McKenzie said. "I opened the door, jumped out and everything was engulfed in flames. And (I) turned around and Sonia was still working to get out of her seat belt, so I grabbed a hold of her."
Sonia McKenzie said her husband told her to jump into a nearby canal because they didn't know if they were on fire.
"We didn't know if we were on fire or the plane was going to explode," she said.
Sonia McKenzie was taken to Broward Health North to be treated for minor injuries.
Doctors said Kenneth McKenzie will likely have permanent scarring from the crash, and said he is a eligible for a groundbreaking stem cell procedure that is only performed at JMH. It's unclear whether McKenzie will go through with the procedure.