Maverick
Line Up and Wait
I went out to the airport today (PHN) to put a new belt on my PowerTow. After doing that I decided to go fly a bit so I pulled the airplane out, started the engine and taxied to Runway 4 for take off. As I was doing my preflight checklist, I heard MayDay MayDay MayDay Navaho something something Romeo and then nothing. I thought I recognized the voice of the pilot, a man who has a charter operation based at my airport. At first I was afraid to take the runway in case he was making an emergency landing but I saw no one in the vicinity of the airport. I tried to call him and so did the local FBO but there was no response. Finally after waiting several minutes I took the runway and departed. I immediately started looking around the area for any sign of a downed aircraft but saw nothing. A little later I heard another pilot call Selfridge approach to tell them he could see an aircraft in shallow water near the shore of Lake Huron just north of the mouth of the Saint Clair River. I told Selfridge approach about the MayDay I heard but that there was no other information.
Anyway, I later found out that he was carrying six passengers back from somewhere when he went down in the lake. I don't know the cause yet or an other details but everyone is OK. They all got out and were taken to a local hospital to be checked out. If I had thought to go fly over the lake maybe I could have found them a bit sooner but there were boats in the area who must have seen them go down. The other airplane that was circling the site said the downed aircraft was surrounded by boats.
Interesting day to say the least. I'm just glad everyone is OK.
Jeannie
Anyway, I later found out that he was carrying six passengers back from somewhere when he went down in the lake. I don't know the cause yet or an other details but everyone is OK. They all got out and were taken to a local hospital to be checked out. If I had thought to go fly over the lake maybe I could have found them a bit sooner but there were boats in the area who must have seen them go down. The other airplane that was circling the site said the downed aircraft was surrounded by boats.
Interesting day to say the least. I'm just glad everyone is OK.
Jeannie
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