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Date: 
Thursday, December 12, 2013
A Winter Haven pilot landed his plane in a lake after his engine failed. Eric McCoy, 48, was flying his 1946 North American Navion north from Winter Haven airport around noon when the engine began misfiring a sputtering. Polk deputies say McCoy sent out a "may day" call to the Bartow Municipal Airport tower. With limited options, McCoy retracted his landing gear and made a hard landing in Lake Hancock. The area where he landed was about 4 feet deep.