Minor injuries reported in Saturday seaplane crash
- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
LAKEPORT, Calif. – A pilot and his wife suffered minor injuries on Saturday afternoon when their seaplane crashed into Clear Lake while taking off.
The 40th annual Clear Lake Seaplane Splash In took place on Saturday, headquartered at the former Natural High School property on North Main Street.
Just as the event was ending at around 4 p.m., a water rescue involving a seaplane was dispatched off of Willopoint near Library Park.
Lakeport Fire Chief Rick Bergem said the pilot was taking off in his two-seater seaplane with his wife as his passenger.
As the plane was banking into a left-hand turn, it may have gotten caught in the wind, which pushed it into the water, Bergem said.
Bergem said the plane remained on the water’s surface and didn’t sink.
Similarly, witnesses at the scene reported that the plane cartwheeled after hitting a crosswind.
Dan Labelle, who was at the event and helping with another plane when the crash took place, said the plane landed on its pontoons and that boats immediately headed out to it and towed it in.
Bergem said the husband and wife, whose names were not released, suffered minor injuries. The woman wanted to go to the hospital to be checked out and her husband, who denied medical care, went with her.
They were “very lucky,” said Bergem.
The plane appeared to have suffered the most damage, with its wings crumpled and the rear section of the fuselage almost snapped off.
At the September 2016 Splash In a Grumman Widgeon plane crashed offshore of the city of Lakeport while the pilot was attempting a water landing. In that crash, the pilot had left down the landing gear, which caught the water, causing the plane to pitch forward onto its nose and sink into the lake.
In that crash, the pilot had minor injuries and his passenger suffered a broken leg.
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