HILO – Flight student Michael Dowsett, a survivor of Tuesday’s single-engine Cessna 172M crash in Hilo, described his near death experience to reporters at a press conference on Thursday.

Photo of the downed plane courtesy Baron Sekiya at Hawaii247.com

Dowsett was one of three people aboard the flight that crash landed shortly before 2 p.m. on April 13th while executing touch-and-go maneuvers at the Hilo International Airport. The pilot was acting as flight instructor, and student pilot Dowsett said he was at the controls when trouble started. The pilot took over but couldnt stop the plane from going down. The pilot and a female student pilot were critically injured and flown to the trauma center at Queen’s Medical Center.

The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash.