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OSHKOSH, Wis. (AP) — Federal investigators say the pilot of a seaplane that crashed on Lake Winnebago in eastern Wisconsin last month, killing himself and a passenger, tried to take off for Minnesota despite warnings about rough water.
The plane crashed July 27 while trying to take off from the Experimental Aircraft Association's seaplane base near Oshkosh during the group's annual convention. The crash killed the pilot, 84-year-old Ray Johnson, of Marshall, Minnesota, and 71-year-old Diane Linker, of Sauk Rapids, Minnesota. A second passenger survived.
The National Transportation Safety Board's preliminary report Monday doesn't pinpoint a cause. But it says the pilot was taken onto the lake by boat after personnel expressed concern about the high waves. But Johnson still asked for the seaplane to be refueled to fly to Marshall in southwestern Minnesota.
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