Passengers walk away from plane Butte crash

BUTTE — Shallow water in Jim Lake this spring may have contributed to a floatplane crash that two people walked away from Tuesday.

National Traffic Safety Board investigator Jere F. Just said the plane resting floats up on the bottom of Jim Lake May 5 was a home-built Zenith CH 701.

He said the lake usually is 5-feet deep, but this year it is barely 2-feet deep, and in other places only inches deep, which may have contributed to the upside down landing, the investigator said.

Reports of the crash summoned responders from the Butte Fire and Rescue, and the Mat-Su Borough Dive Team to the scene around 2 p.m.

Butte Assistant Fire Chief Jason Edmison said access to the site was via the gravel roads at the end of Maud Road in the Knik River Public Use Area.

Responders found the pilot and the co-pilot resting on top of the seaplane’s floats, he said.

“They were coming in for a landing, and the next thing they knew they were flipped over upside down in the water,” Edmison said.

The dive team used boats to transport the people from the plane to dry land, and from there, they were taken to Mat-Su Regional Medical Center for evaluation, Edmison said.