Kate hit the water at 90mph with the plane's tail down so that it took the full force of the impact.

After five minutes clinging to a life raft, she was rescued by a gas rig support vessel and winched to safety by a RAF helicopter that flew her to Blackpool for hospital treatment.

>> Pilot hit sea at 100mph during aborted flight
17 December 2009

Incredibly, thanks to keeping a cool head in the emergency, she escaped injury — apart from a broken finger nail!

Kate, whose ill-fated Piper Comanche aircraft is Manx-registered in her maiden name of Pirie, was flying home from a business trip in Guernsey when near-disaster struck.

She said from her home in Laxey: 'I refuelled the aircraft, did all the checks that were necessary and set out over the water to the Isle of Man.

'Everything was fine until I was about 38 miles from the Isle of Man when I experienced problems with my right engine. I just shut it down as I had a spare engine on the other side. I elected to divert to Blackpool as it was closer.

'About five to six minutes later as I was coming out of the cloud about 4,000ft, I lost power in the second engine. I called the distress centre and told them I had a problem. They suggested I make for land which was 18 miles away.

'But I knew I would not make it so I decided to stay where I was. I told them I was going to land next to one of the oil rig support vessels.

'I opened the door of the cockpit prior to touching down. I didn't really have time to think about it — I just got into emergency mode. I said a few Anglo Saxon words to the effect "oh dear, I'm going to get wet".

'I landed tail heavy so it took all the force of the approach. The tail took the brunt, the cockpit bellyflopped and the door flew open. An oil rig helicopter hovered about 100ft away.

'I climbed on to the wing and made for my life raft but I couldn't get in it — I was hanging on to the side. The tail of the aircraft was at 90 degrees to the fuselage.

'I was only in the water for four to five minutes when the fast response craft from the support vessel came to pick me up.'

Kate, 48, who is married to Kestrel Insurance boss Alan, was picked up by support vessel Vos Pathfinder and checked over in its sick bay.

She thinks her plane sunk while she was clinging to the life raft.

An RAF Sea King helicopter crew winched her off the support vessel and flew her to Blackpool Airport where an ambulance was waiting to take her to hospital.

'It was just another day out! I got a little wet. And I broke a finger nail!' she laughed.

'Luckily there was only a slight swell in the water — if it had been any greater I could have been a different story. If I had taken the force and gone nose down I would have taken the force and I wouldn't be here.

'That's why I'm lucky to be here. I've no significant injuries at all — right now I'm starting to stiffen up a bit.'

She rang and told her husband: 'I've broken the aeroplane and my finger nail.

He replied: 'Why can't you just break cars like other people!'

Double engine failure is extremely rare and she had no idea why it had happened, she said. She thanked the emergency services.

Asked for a comparison of her textbook landing with that of Cpt Chesley Sullenberger III, the hero pilot who landed an Airbus in the Hudson River, New York, this year, she said: 'He had smoother water but I expect he did exactly the same thing.

'He would have landed tail heavy. You just think about it. If you're coming down at 90mph and are going to hit a brick wall which is the water you would rather have something else taking the force other than the steering wheel into your chest.'

She added he probably had more buoyancy and was a hero in getting all the passengers off.