POMPANO BEACH, Fla. – The pilot of a single-engine Cessna that crashed in Pompano Beach on Tuesday said his sense of calm was partly to credit for keeping himself and his passenger alive.
From the air, Vincent Citrullo, 27, knew he had to do what years of experience and training had taught him: stay focused.
"When you're in an emergency you have to remain calm. If you freak out, you're going to kill yourself," Citrullo said.
It was on a flight from Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport to Pompano Air Park when the engine in his Cessna failed. When the control tower asked if he was going to make it to the runway, Citrullo knew the answer.
"I said, 'We're not going to be able to make it,'" he said.
Citrullo's student, David Bakalar, 42, was at the controls. Citrullo said he took over immediately.
"At that point it was only a few seconds until I had to make the decision as to where I was going to land," Citrullo said.
After the engine quit, the plane dodged power lines, struck a tree, and eventually careened into the intersection of Northeast 10th Street and Fifth Avenue in two broken parts. Citrullo said adrenaline rushed through his body; it wasn't until he and Bakalar landed that he began to sense the gravity of the situation.
"You react to what the situation is. You get on the ground. And then afterwards you freak out about it," he said.
The remarkably calm former Air Force pilot walked away unscathed. Bakalar just had a cut on one hand.
While Citrullo credits steely nerves, he doesn't rule out a strike of luck.
"I'll take luck over skill any day," he laughed.