People who live on the lake “saw it coming down quickly” but didn’t hear sounds from the plane’s engine, which caught their attention, said sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Ryan Abbott. After the plane crashed into the lake — in unincorporated King County, east of Auburn and west of Black Diamond — three people kayaked out and rescued the 19-year-old pilot, who was conscious and was taken to a hospital, Abbott said.
The crash happened just after 11:20 a.m. and the aircraft was pulled from the lake around 3 p.m., he said.
The 19-year-old pilot was in serious condition at Harborview Medical Center as of Monday afternoon, said a hospital spokeswoman.
Eli Temeyosa, also 19, said he’s been friends with the pilot since middle school and both grew up in Covington. He said his friend sold his pickup truck three months ago and purchased an ultralight for $5,000 from a man in Sequim. Under Federal Aviation Administration rules, flying the single-occupant aircraft doesn’t require a pilot’s license.
“I’m sure it was scary for him,” Temeyosa said of what he presumes was his friend’s emergency landing on the lake, which is 2 miles southeast of Crest Airpark, where the ultralight is stored. “I was thinking about getting one myself, but after this, I’m thinking I’ll rain check.”
The Seattle Times is not naming the pilot because he and his immediate family could not be reached, and his name had not been released by officials.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Bureau will investigate the cause of the crash.
Original article can be found here ➤ https://www.seattletimes.com
LAKE MORTON, Washington - Quick-acting kayakers rescued a pilot whose small plane crashed into a lake in unincorporated Kent south of Covington, sheriff's officials said. The pilot, 19, was taken to Harborview Medical Center where he's in stable condition.
Witnesses spotted the plane crash into the middle of Lake Morton shortly after noon on Monday after its engine began having problems then cut out.
Three witnesses jumped into two kayaks and quickly paddled out to the sinking plane. The kayakers - a woman and two men - found the pilot still conscious after the crash and helped him back to shore, said the King County Sheriff's Office.
Emergency responders arrived and took the pilot to the hospital.
Aerial footage from KOMO News' Air 4 showed the small yellow plane sinking nose-first into the water, with a small fuel slick forming on the surface.
The circumstances leading up to the crash are under investigation. The lake is located about a mile south of Crest Airpark, but it was not immediately known if the plane had taken off from there.
Story and video ➤ https://kpic.com
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