CHARLEVOIX (WWJ) - One woman is dead and one man was injured after a small aircraft went down in Lake Michigan off Beaver Island on Friday morning, authorities confirmed.
Officials with the United States Coast Guard Great Lakes region said rescue crews responded to the crash involving a single-engine Avid Magnum that was carrying two occupants after it was reported down near the string of islands northwest of Beaver Island on June 23.
According to the USCG, aircrew from AIRSTA Traverse City hoisted one injured person from the water while Charlevoix County Sheriff’s Department divers recovered a second deceased person from the submerged wreck.
Charlevoix County Sheriff Chuck Vondra later identified the two occupants as Beverly Anderson and Randy Seaman.
Vondra said the private two-seater plane with Anderson and Seaman onboard had taken off from the township airport on Beaver Island around 8:35 a.m.
Shortly after they were airborne, the plane crashed in about 4 to 6 feet of water near Whiskey and High Island, just northwest of Beaver Island.
The Federal Aviation Administration, who is conducting an investigation into the incident, said the crash occurred around 12:20 p.m. local time.
Vondra said Seaman was rescued by the USCG and taken to to McLaren Northern Michigan hospital in Petoskey with minor injuries.
Anderson did not survive the crash after she became trapped inside the plane, which ended up sinking in Lake Michigan. Her body was found by divers in the submerged wreckage.
Vondra said one of the two occupants had a home on Beaver Island and the couple were in the plane to conduct a sightseeing flight over the islands
Both the FAA And the National Transportation Safety Board are looking into what caused the crash. A preliminary report on their investigation is expected to be released in the coming days.