JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – The pilot of the glider that ended up in the Ross Barnett Reservoir spoke to WJTV 12 News about the incident.

Bob Herndon, 89, said he took off from the Woodbridge Airport in Rankin County on Memorial Day. His plan was to return there, but because of a problem, he was unable to return.

Herndon said he felt a level of stress as he was descending, because this was his first water landing. He was trying to land at Pelahatchie Bay Park, but there were people and boats in the area.

“I was looking, and I knew I couldn’t get back to my airport, and I had to get to… I had to find a place to land, and it was away from boats. I knew there was no landing space that I could stop on a field, which would be a normal land out, so I did a land out in the water,” Herndon said.

After the landing, Herndon said he was a little shaken up, but he wasn’t injured.