Got that sinking feeling....

[sshekels]

What a way to end March:

http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=77512

( Copied below)


Residents of Dassel, Minnesota saw a strange sight on Thursday.

A small airplane went through the ice on Spring Lake. The pilot, a recently laid off Northwest Airlines mechanic, was flying to visit his mother.

He planned to land on the lake — which is common in that area of Minnesota — when the plane's wheel hit a fish hole.

The plane got stuck and slowly began sinking as the weight of the plane proved too much for the weak spring ice.

Rescuers used inner tubes and other floatation devices to bring the plane up and keep it up.

No one was hurt in the incident.

(Copyright 2005 by KARE. All Rights Reserved.)

 

[Greebo]

... ok, you know I'm sure they land on the ice all the time in the dead of winter... but wouldn't you think late march is just a little late to be considering doing that???

 

[gismo]

What a lot of folks don't realize is that ice looses a huge fraction of it's strength as the temp rises in the spring. I've seen ice close to two feet think that would give away under the weight of a single person walking on it.

 

[grattonja]

What a lot of folks don't realize is that ice looses a huge fraction of it's strength as the temp rises in the spring. I've seen ice close to two feet think that would give away under the weight of a single person walking on it.

You are right, I certainly didn't know that. I always thought that ice that thick would hold up most anything. Something to think about this time of year for sure.

Jim G