A stolen submarine found floating in San Francisco Bay was mistaken for a downed aircraft before officials took a closer look and brought the yellow homemade craft back to shore.
Callers reported a downed airplane in the bay at 12:39 p.m. Sunday, The Scaramento Bee reported, but when the Alameda County Fire Department set out to investigate the scene, they found the abandoned submarine.
The Alameda County Fire Department posted about the submarine on Twitter.
Shanee Stopnitzky, a marine scientist who owns the submarine, dubbed "Fang Tooth," told KGO-TV that she believes someone stole the two-person craft and took it for a joy ride before authorities recovered it in the bay Sunday.
The sub was used by the volunteer group The Community Submersibles Project to give "people access to explore the oceans in a way where they ordinarily would never have access to," Stopnitzky told the station.
It travels to depths of 30 feet and provides 30 minutes of air.
Stopnitzky said she is glad no one got hurt or killed during the shenanigans.
"It's a simple set of systems, but you still need knowledge of how submarines work," she said.
A crowdfunding campaign has been established to raise $5,000 to get the submarine released from the impound lot and pay for repairs.
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