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WATCH: Cuban Defector in Soviet-Era Plane Nearly Clips Florida Fishing Boat

A Cuban pilot defected to the United States on Friday, landing in the Everglades in an act that caused Cuban officials to accuse him of international air piracy.

Fishermen in the Florida Straits were stunned on Friday to see a Soviet-era biplane flying low over the water, with video showing it nearly clipping the top of at least one boat. The clip, published Monday by the Miami Herald, shows the blue-and-yellow plane navigating Plantation Key as its pilot, a 29-year-old Cuban man, attempted to defect to the United States. One fisherman told the newspaper he was “confused” by the appearance of the Antonov AN-2, thinking that it was “not a normal plane to be out here.” Reportedly low on fuel, the pilot soon after landed on an isolated runway at a Collier County training and transition airport in the Everglades, according to Local 10. The pilot, identified by Spain-based news outlet CiberCuba as Rubén Martínez, identified himself as a defector to authorities, explaining he had flown roughly 270 miles from Sancti Spiritus, Cuba. It was not immediately clear on Monday if he had been detained, but CiberCuba reported that his mother and sister had been arrested in Santa Clara, with Cuban officials accusing Martínez of international air piracy.