TACOMA, Wash. -- Two small planes collided over Tacoma and one of them with two people on board crashed into Commencement Bay.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer said the other plane landed safely at Thun Field in Puyallup just before 1 p.m. All three people involved survived.

The pilot of the single-engine American Champion plane that went down in Commencement Bay was taking his 71-year-old mother to Gig Harbor for lunch when the collision occurred, Tacoma Police Detective Thomas Williams said.

The two were picked up within minutes by a Tacoma police boat and a privately-owned boat that were in the area.

John and Margaret Farrell were aboard the Grand Madison and helped pull the two victims on to their boat.

"We had our binoculars and we saw the two survivors in the water," John Farrell said, adding they were about three miles away at the time of the crash. "We had the Grand Madison going as fast as she would go to get there. We got them out of the water; the lady was very hypothermic."

They wrapped the mother in sheets to keep her warm.

"In this 48-degree water, if you don't get them out really fast, they don't make it," John Farrell said.

Margaret Farrell told KOMO 4 News she feared the situation could have been much worse.  "We're just so happy we were there," she said. "There was not another boat anywhere near, so it was meant to be. We were where we were supposed to be at the right time."

The woman was suffering from hypothermia and both were loaded into a waiting ambulance and transported to Tacoma General Hospital, and both had been released by Tuesday evening.

Several along the shore witnessed the collision.

"We see planes flying over (Commencement Bay) all the time," said witness Heinz Redecker. "Rarely do I watch a plane flying sideways. He was actually (twisting sideways) back and forth and trying hard to keep control of the aircraft."

The pilot flew out of the downward spiral and made a soft landing on the water, Williams said.

"The pilot did good. No one appears to be really hurt. They lost some property. We can always replace property," Williams said.

The other aircraft, a Cessna 182, landed at Thun Field with minimal damage to the landing gear.  "A wheel pan cover is broken," said Bruce Thun, operations manager of Thun Field, which it was named for his father.

The pilot, Bud Williams, said he was flying home from Tacoma to Port Angeles when he was clipped by the other plane.

"Came out of my right side, which is out of my blind spot, and I just had a chance to pull up before we hit," Williams said. "It was quite a hard hit. My first reaction was 'where's the other plane?'"

Williams said he recalls shaking in his seat as he saw the other plane spiraling toward the water after the impact.

"He was in a flat, spiral spin going into the water," he said.  Despite the shock, Williams said he had to come up with his own plan to land his plane. He told KOMO 4 News he didn't even know if his wheels were still attached, but he knew where he wanted to go.

He said he chose to land and Thun Field because he was familiar with the area and knew emergency crews would be available if needed. Williams, who said he's been flying for about four years, was the only one on board and was not injured.  He said he couldn't communicate with the other pilot as they were on separate radio frequencies.

Coast Guard and police boats are patrolling the area of Commencement Bay where the plane went down looking for debris, and investigators with the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board were on scene.

The crashed plane is in about 400 feet of water less than a mile off the shore of Tacoma's Ruston Way. No oil or fuel was leaking from the plane Tuesday afternoon, Williams said.

Photo of pilot of the plane that crashed into Commencement Bay on Nov. 20, 2007. Taken on board the pleasure boat Grand Madison moments after his rescue by John and Margaret Farrell.

Photo of Bud Williams, the pilot of the Cessna that landed at Thun Field.

Damage to the Cessna 182 that landed at Thun Field.

The Cessna 182 that landed safely at Thun Field.