seaplane crashYou've got to feel bad for the Atkins family of Texas. Andy, wife Jenny and 4-year-old son Logan must have had high hopes for their Carribean getaway: Some sun, some fun ... a little relaxation at the very least. One thing vacations aren't supposed to be is stressful. Or at any rate, they're not supposed to be more stressful than real life.

And they're definitely not supposed to be more dangerous.

Except after you hear about what happened to the Atkins, you might never think of a tropical family vacay in quite the same way ...

The trio was having a fabulous afternoon, taking an air tour in a seaplane of the small island Roatan (near Honduras) ... when suddenly, terrifyingly, the engine cut out and the seaplane crashed into the crystal clear waters.

Everything happened so fast, said dad Andy, that he couldn't even comprehend what was going on at first:

"It took me just a second of talking to my brain to realize, wow, we really crashed and you're not dead, but you've got to get out of here before you drown."

What made things even more confusing for Andy was the fact that he'd taken the same aerial trip with some old college buddies a couple of months earlier and everything went off without a hitch.

Yikes! See, that's what I'm saying ... vacations aren't supposed to be dangerous! Poor Andy was caught completely off guard.

Luckily some nearby boaters had their wits about them (not surprising, since one turned out to be a U.S. Navy doctor and another a retired pilot).

Thanks to the daring impromptu rescue team, Andy, Jenny and Logan made it back to shore safely and, after spending a few days in the hospital, are fully recovered. They even plan on going back to the island ... but they're done with seaplanes for good. (And I would guess parasailing and bungee-jumping and maybe cliff-diving, too.)

Check out the clip below and you'll see why!

Is there anything about going on vacation that makes you nervous?

Image via msnbc

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