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A couple from Canada are lucky; neither suffered any injury when their seaplane flipped while trying to take off from an area lake.
A 1981 Yellow Cessna 172P Canadian Tail from Thunder Bay, Ontario, overturned when the pilot was taking off from the Devil’s Track Lake on Wednesday, July 27, at about 6:30 p.m.
Cook County Search and Rescue, North Shore Health Ambulance, Sheriff Pat Eliasen, Deputy Katherine Ochtrup, and Deputy Christopher Schrupp responded to the plane crash.
Upon arrival at the lake, Deputy Ochturp and Deputy Schupp went to Skyport Lodge and asked to borrow one of their boats. Skyport owner Cory Christiansen let the deputies borrow a pontoon, which the officers used to check out the upside-down plane floating in the middle of the lake.
Henry Fairly, the pilot, and his passenger, Brooke, were both outside, holding onto the plane. When the deputies arrived, they were rescued by another person in a pontoon boat. Brooke and Henry were taken to shore and checked out by EMS, and found to have no injuries. The person who picked them up from the water pulled their float plane to the Devil Track seaplane base and placed the plane about 50 feet from the shore.
The pilot, Henry Fairley, said he had issues in the past with the floats collecting water. He said he pumped water out of a float before trying to take off. As he was taxiing down the lake to take-off, he said he was having issues, and the plane overturned. Henry told the officers he thought one of the floats filled with water which led to the plane flipping.
In his report about the accident Officer Shrupp said the following agencies were notified about the airplane crash: Minnesota Duty Officer; Federal Aviation Admiration, Minneapolis Air Route Traffic Control Center, Minnesota Department of Natural Resource, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, National Response Center, Customs and Border Protection, National Transportation Safety Board, US Forest Service, Coast Guard, and Environmental Protection Agency.
On Thursday, the plane was still parked 50 feet from the Devil Track seaplane base. Two red life jackets were placed on the plane to make it visible so no one would run into it.
The FAA will inspect the plane after it is removed from the water. In addition, the Minnesota Pollution Control and Environmental Protection Agency will be notified if there is/was any gas or oil leaking from the plane.
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