A floatplane pilot drowned after crashing into Lake Mille Lacs, the county sheriff confirmed Saturday.
Floatplane crashes in Lake Mille Lacs, pilot drowns
The plane crashed into a 26-foot-deep area of the lake, police said. The pilot's body was recovered about 8 hours after the crash.
July 2, 2023 at 12:48AM
Mille Lacs County Sheriff Kyle Burton said in a Facebook video posted around 3 a.m. that the 47-year-old pilot's body was recovered from the lake, as was the plane. He was later identified as Ryan Comer of Blaine.
Burton said there's little information yet about what caused the crash. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating, and in a subsequent video on Saturday morning, he said the federal agency is seeking ring or surveillance camera footage from property owners around the southwest part of the lake, from around 1:30-2 p.m. on Friday.
Another floatplane pilot called 911 a little before 2 p.m. to report the crash on the lake roughly 2 miles east of Shah-Bush-Kung Bay Public Water Access in Kathio Township, according to a news release from the sheriff.
The two floatplanes took off from Anoka County Municipal Airport about 1 p.m. Friday and flew to Lake Mille Lacs, where they planned to make a brief water landing before continuing to Aitkin County, the news release said. One plane landed successfully, while the other, an Icon A5 aircraft, crashed into the lake at a spot with a depth of 26 feet.
The pilot's body was recovered just before 10 p.m., Burton said. His department was aided by rescue teams from the Mille Lacs Band Tribal Police, Department of Natural Resources, and Aitkin, Anoka and St. Louis counties, he said.
"At least the recovery is done, and the family has some closure that their loved one is not somewhere out there in the lake," Burton said in the video.
Star Tribune staff writer Patrick Condon contributed.
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