Pilot saves family and friends after ditching into sea

A pilot who flawlessly ditched a small plane carrying his family and friends into the sea also led them safely to a life raft as the aircraft sank in Massachusetts Bay.

Dana Lake and his neighbour, James Comosa, managed to prepare their wives, Lake’s three daughters and Comosa’s two sons for yesterday’s emergency landing.

‘‘Dana kept his cool through the whole thing. He told us exactly what to do. The little girls were freaking out,’’ said Jamie Comosa, 14.

None of the nine was seriously injured, though Lake’s youngest daughter, Jessica, seven, remained in a hospital today in fair condition.

Lake had reported fuel problems with the plane. James Comosa, 46, said that once Lake realized the plane was going down, he contacted the nearest control tower and prepared their escape.

‘‘Some signs of the cross were made,’’ Comosa said. ‘‘The children were starting to get a little panicked, and the mothers were obviously focused on their children, and Dana and I were focused on seeing what we could do to not let happen what apparently was about to happen.’’

When the twin-engine Piper Navajo went into the water, Lake, 50, climbed onto the wing and had Comosa toss the raft to him. Comosa said Lake inflated it and the two men ushered their wives and children aboard.

The plane, en route from Nantucket to Beverly, went down just about two miles from shore. Coast Guard boats and a helicopter found the raft holding Carolyn Lake, 40, and daughters, Katie, 10, Courtney, eight, and Jessica; and Theresa Comosa, 46, and her younger son, Nicholas, nine.

Dana Lake, James and Jamie Comosa were clinging to the side. No one was wearing a life jacket.