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Plane crashes into ocean in front of sunbathers on beach (VIDEO)

A shoreline crash was caught on camera as an emergency landing caught the attention of hundreds on the beach in Ocean City. (Photo via our Cox Media Group sister station WPXI-TV)

OCEAN CITY, Md. — A shoreline crash was caught on camera as an emergency landing caught the attention of hundreds on the beach in Ocean City.

"Bang, bang, bang, and it's, like, 'What's that noise?' All of a sudden, white clouds coming out like shotgun shells. And then everyone started running real quick. Then you saw the lifeguards and everyone running, and I'm, like, 'Yeah, this is serious,'" Stevie Reeves told WBOC.

"We kind of ran out and looked. We're, like, 'It's going to crash,'" Brian Cashen said.

People on the beach and the boardwalk said the small plane made an impressive crash landing into shallow waters near 22nd Street.

"He hit it and he dipped right in and that plane just kind of boogie boarded right up the shore real quick and makes it out," Reeves said.

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Jessica Waters, Ocean City public information officer, said the pilot, Trevor Deihl, 23, did not think he would be able to make it to the airport because of mechanical issues.

"The pilot did a fantastic job landing the aircraft. There was no one hurt. There were a few pieces of the plane that were recovered so there doesn't appear to be any kind of environmental issue," Waters said.

"And he seemed like he was coming close enough to the beach, but it almost seemed like he was watching to see that there weren't people in the water," Cashen said.

It took several tries to get the plane out of the water. Maryland state police will take it to another location to perform a full investigation.

This article was written by our Cox Media Group sister station WPXI-TV.