Fair / 30° F
Float plane crashes on Lizzie
Published 1:57pm Monday, July 20, 2009A Fargo pilot and two passengers escaped serious injury when a float plane overturned on Lake Lizzie Friday, July 3.
The accident occurred around 10:30 a.m. as Richard Springer, 52, was attempting to land a plane carrying his wife, Terryl, and a Burnsville girl. Springer told authorities with the Otter Tail County Sheriff’s Office he forgot to retract the plane’s landing gear, causing the aircraft to overturn shortly after it hit the water.
Brian Berg and James Fyhrie, neighbors on the lake’s west side, witnessed the accident. Their families, gathered for swimming and a barbecue Friday, often stop to watch Springer fly. This time the landing was different.
“All of a sudden (the plane) was skidding abruptly and the end started tipping like it was nosediving,” Berg said.
After the plane flipped, Berg and Fyhrie got on jet skis and were among the first to arrive at the plane, which was about 300 yards from shore. The Springers and the girl clung to the plane’s floats, the only part of the aircraft still above water. Nearby fishermen made it to the scene first and were able to help the stranded group into their boat.
Jon Ingvalson, another lake property owner, witnessed the accident as he was scrubbing his dock.
“I saw him flip and a big splash and I thought it was a boat that turned too fast,” he said.
Ingvalson shouted to his wife, who called 911, and Ingvalson and a neighbor took his pontoon out to the scene. The fishermen were already assisting the group, Ingvalson said.
Members of the Otter Tail County Water Patrol were out in boats near the submerged aircraft Friday afternoon. A conservation officer with the Department of Natural Resources was also at the scene. The Federal Aviation Administration will investigate the incident, as it does all plane crashes, said Dep. Steve Brandner. No fuel or oil had leaked from the plane as of Friday afternoon.
Brandner did not know when the aircraft would be removed from the lake.
