Pilot crash lands in sea filled with swimmers – (Photos).

A World War 2 bomber pilot landed in the sea metres from swimmers after the plane suffered a mechanical failure.

Beach goers watched in awe as the TBM Avenger hovered above the water in Cocoa Beach, Florida.

Footage of the remarkable incident shows the plane swooping in about two or three metres above the water.

It bobs up and down slightly as it skims across the bay, perilously close to people swimming in the water below.

After clearing a couple of people swimming in the water, the plane crashes down onto the surf to the squeals of onlookers.

Luckily no one, including the pilot, were hurt in the crash landing, which was required due to a mechanical failure.

Brian Ditmer and his family were at the beach when they saw the plane coming in low.

“I seen the plane come down low and I was like ‘hey watch he’s going to do a low fly by’ at that second he actually did a belly bump off a wave which looked intentional because there were some people in front of him,” he told Fox News.

“He missed a lot of people. If it would have went down the first time he hit water it would have not been good. Like I said, he did an amazing job.”

Witness Melanie Schrader added: “It looked like (the pilot) pulled up at the last moment and avoided any spectators, there were loads of people on the water, and then I saw him on top of the plane, it looked like he was okay.”

It is unclear what went wrong with the plane, which was being flown as part of the Cocoa Beach Airshow.

Officials have yet to remove it from the water.