Splash landing

HAYDEN LAKE - Travis Mitchell couldn't believe his ears, but a quick glance toward Hayden Lake confirmed it.

Mitchell's fellow dock workers on the job Thursday morning at The Hayden Marina yelled across to him and co-worker Kevin Almeida that a plane just crashed on the lake and to take the company's boat out on a rescue mission.

"The tail was sticking up out of the water and the plane was starting to sink," said Mitchell, who works for Harrison Dock Builders. "So we raced over there."

By the time the rescuers arrived, both Michael Bell, 61, Spokane, a student pilot who was flying the single-engine seaplane, and his instructor Michael Kincaid, 62, Coeur d'Alene, were outside and sitting on a wing of the two-seat, 180-horsepower Murphy Rebel.

Both were uninjured in the crash and taken by the dock workers to the Honeysuckle Beach boat launch and nearby home of another pilot so the two victims could warm up.

"It was nice to see they were out and no one was hurt," Mitchell said. "You never know when you pull up to a plane crash. They were pretty darned thankful that we came."

Mitchell estimates the two were stranded on the lake for about 5 minutes.

"You could tell that they were shaken up from what happened," Mitchell said.

But Kincaid, who has been a pilot for about 40 years, said he didn't panic.

"We train for this," he said. "If you train for emergencies, you're prepared. It was more like, 'Oops we're going upside down and now I have to think about how to get out.'"

Kincaid said he was under water for a few seconds before both he and Bell exited out the pilot's door, which hadn't become submerged as the passenger side had.

"We got saturated with water," Kincaid said, thanking the rescuing individuals and agencies.

Estimates of the water temperature from emergency responders and Kincaid varied from 41 to 50 degrees. It's estimated that the lake is about 207 feet deep where the plane crashed.

"The adrenaline factor got going, so the last thing you think of is how cold the water is," Kincaid said. "We were more interested in making sure each other is OK."

Kincaid said that both he and Bell were wearing safety vests, but neither had to activate them.

Bell declined to comment.

The crash, which occurred nearly a mile from Honeysuckle Beach near The Hayden Marina (formerly Tobler's Marina) and about a quarter-mile off shore, was reported at 9:38 a.m.

The two had taken off from the Coeur d'Alene Airport earlier in the morning.

"They were trying to land," said KCSD Maj. Ben Wolfinger, adding that the plane's wheeled landing gear had not been turned up, causing the aircraft to flip as it came onto the water.

Kincaid said there was a gear issue, but he said it remains unclear exactly what and that the Federal Aviation Administration is investigating.

"A mechanic is looking at the hydraulics," Kincaid said.

Within a few minutes, only the bottom of the pontoons were showing above water.

The plane was flipped and recovered from the lake via the boat launch by late afternoon.

Kincaid said the damage to the plane was fairly minimal and he expects to be able to fly it again, possibly this summer.

Kincaid, who is a retired Alaska state trooper and flew bush planes during those 20 years, now teaches seaplane flying in Kootenai County. He was hired last year as a stunt pilot and to help locate planes for use in "Frozen Ground," a film about a serial killer in Alaska. Kincaid operates Mountain Lakes Seaplane and Adventurous Books.

Kincaid said he has had a few "mishaps" with flying over the years, but Thursday's incident was the most serious.

Northern Lakes Fire used absorption pads to soak up leaking fuel from the plane.