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Sandra Yi ReportingEric McCollum: "Well, you can always think the worst. You can hope for the best, and that's what we did."
A small plane makes an emergency landing, on the edge of the Great Salt Lake. It happened around 12:30 this afternoon. Five people were on board, fortunately, no one was injured.
A medical helicopter took the four passengers to Million Air terminal. AirMed went back to pick up the pilot, who had stayed with the plane. None were injured.
The plane made a hard landing on the Salt Flats, nine miles west of the Great Salt Lake Marina, on the edge of Stansbury Island.
The plane was enroute from Seattle, Washington to Salt Lake. The pilot told our Chopper 5 pilot that he lost engine power, but doesn't know why. Authorities say there were also reports of a fuel problem.
When the plane landed, the left landing gear collapsed and the plane spun around.
Tooele County had search and rescue teams ready to go in the water, but called it off.
Dep. Eric McCollum, Tooele County Sheriff's Office: "There are no injuries. There is no need for us to go out there. The FAA is going to be enroute. It's up to the individual who owns the craft to recover it."
The plane is a Piper Cherokee. It is registered to a man in Taylorsville. Deputies tell us, the pilot was with his wife and their children.
Authorities say it could take a couple of hours to navigate the plane out on the dike roadways out there. The FAA is investigating.
