A plane has been found at the bottom of a lake just months after pilots were forced to make an emergency landing.
Pilots Chad Rodgers and Charles Wood were flying a single-engine Cessna on the night of October 1 when they had to make an emergency crash landing in Lake Mead, Nevada, US.
The pair were en route to Las Vegas from Arizona when the plane experienced engine failure and crashed just 25 minutes into the flight.
Rodgers and Wood managed to escape the aircraft through the window as the plane was sinking and swim ashore. Both escaped serious injuries.
Three months on a local environmental consulting firm found the sunken plane using a remotely operated vehicle and sonar technology.
The National Transportation Safety Board searched for the sunken plane for three months but were unable to locate the wreckage.
Local experts were called in to help find the plane as Steve Schafer, from local company Earth Resource Group, said the firm found the wreckage after just 4 days.
He said: "The plane was pretty easy. It stood out. It's a great sense of relief when we are successful and can give some closure to the family."
The plane will be taken to The National Transportation Safety Board who will determine what caused the crash.
Pilot Chad Rodgers told CBS affiliate KPHO-TV in October he thought he was going to die when the planes engine failed.
He admitted: "My first reaction was, I'm going to die."
The pilot immediately contacted air traffic control for advice on where to land after they were told they were near Lake Mead.
A report into the crash stated the pilot circled the lake until they could prepare for the emergency landing.
It said: "They circled the lake under a lit moon while the pilot and passenger reviewed the emergency checklist to prepare for the lake ditching.”
Once Chad was told the lake was underneath him he knew the pair were going to survive.
Chad said: "Once I heard the lake was beneath me, I was 100% confident we are going to live. It was probably 30-40 seconds after we landed, the plane flipped over, it was already pretty much sunk."
The pilot's wife, Keri Rodgers, set up a GoFundMe page to try and raise money for the two pilot's belongings that sunk with the plane.
She wrote: "Officials did not expect to find any survivors. Three hours after the plane went down, both survivors were miraculously found unscathed.
"They both managed to escape through the window as the plane was sinking to the bottom of the lake."
