Man dies in seaplane crash near Big Lake

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Authorities say a man is dead after the seaplane he was piloting with his wife crashed into a lake near Big Lake Friday night.

Alaska State Troopers said a dive team attempted to retrieve the body from the waters of East Butterfly Lake after a local resident found the sunken seaplane in the water Saturday morning. The lake is located approximately 10 miles west of the community of Big Lake.

According to police, the man was flying the plane with his wife when it crashed, prompting a call to Mat-Com around 7 p.m. Friday.

The woman reportedly escaped the plane and swam to shore, where she told a local resident that her husband was still in the plane in the lake and was “presumed deceased.”

Life Med officials took the woman to the hospital as the search for the sunken plane began. Darkness forced an end to the search on Friday evening, which resumed at 6 a.m. Saturday.

According to police, officials from the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration were alerted.

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