WATCH: Dramatic Cockpit Video From Plane That Made Emergency Landing During WWII Flyover

Stunning cockpit video has been released showing the emergency landing of a World War II-era plane during a historic flyover above D.C. earlier this month.

On May 8, the 70th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day, the planes flew in formations to represent the major battles of WWII -- but about 30 minutes into the flyover, a Curtiss Helldiver was forced to make an emergency landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport because of mechanical problems.

This week, a YouTube video was posted showing the heart-stopping moments after smoke appears to waft into the cockpit, growing steadily thicker.

"Are we on fire?" a passenger shouts from the back seat as they fly over the Lincoln Memorial. The pilot quickly assesses the situtation and radios for an emergency landing.

Then, moments later, he radios, "We're landing at Reagan. We're on fire."

Information on an available runway quickly comes over the radio as the plane descends, flying low over the Potomac River.

By that point, the pilot believed his passenger was unconscious, according to text superimposed on the video. "Gut wrenching," he said.

In actuality, the passenger had simply removed his headset to look for what they believed to be a fire. 

The plane was on the ground just a minute after the smoky substance was first spotted.

"It was an overwhelming sense of relief to see [the passenger] was conscious," the pilot wrote.

The pilot and his passenger later learned fire wasn't to blame. Instead, a pinhole hydraulic leak had vaporized in the cockpit, appearing like smoke.

"It moved and acted like smoke, [and] combined with fluid heat on the legs of my passenger, it was mistaken for fire," the pilot wrote on the video's YouTube page.

The pilot said they had trained on what to do in case of an emergency during the flyover, and Reagan National Airport officials had been cautioned that they were the alternate airport in case of a problem.

The Curtiss Helldiver was taken off the runway quickly, was repaired and flew out later that afternoon, causing no delays at Reagan.

But the pilot said there was a bigger message behind what happened: "This event, especially on this day, gave a somber reminder to all those who didn't have a runway conveniently aligned," he wrote. "To those who were hundreds of miles away from the nearest carrier, in enemy waters. To those who made the ultimate sacrifice. We remember."

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