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GREAT SALT LAKE — A pilot escaped with no injuries after making a hard landing into the Great Salt Lake on Thursday.
About 12:45 p.m., a single-engine aircraft went down after "the engine failed and (the pilot) was forced to make a controlled landing near Stansbury Island," according to Utah State Parks spokesman Eugene Swalberg.
A boat with brine shrimpers on board saw the crash and got the 39-year-old pilot out of the water and onto their vessel, Swalberg said.
The brine shrimp boat contacted Utah State Parks, and the Great Salt Lake harbor master took a boat to the scene and picked up the pilot, said Unified Police Lt. Brian Lohrke.
There were initial reports that the pilot was suffering from hypothermia. But Lohrke said he was in good condition when he got to shore and didn't appear to have any injuries. Swalberg said the pilot refused medical attention.
Crews were attempting to remove the plane from the lake Thursday afternoon, noting that because of its wood and fiber construction that it was still floating on the water.
After the rescue, it was later determined that the plane crashed on the Tooele County side of the lake. The Tooele County Sheriff's Office and Utah Department of Natural Resources will take over the investigation of the incident.
