BEAVER ISLAND, Mich. – A small plane crashed into northern Lake Michigan near Beaver Island on Friday, killing one person and injuring another, authorities said.
A Coast Guard helicopter diverted from a training mission to respond to a report of an overdue airplane and located it upside down between Whiskey Island and Beaver Island with one person in the water, the Charlevoix County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
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A man in the water was identified as Randy F. Seaman, 70, of Lowell, Michigan. The Coast Guard helicopter airlifted him to Charlevoix Municipal Airport, where he was transported by ambulance to McLaren Hospital in Petoskey for treatment of unknown injuries, according to the statement.
Also in the airplane was Beverly Jean Anderson, 65, also from Lowell, who did not survive, according to the statement.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash, the statement said.
Charlevoix County Sheriff Chuck Vondra said the plane crashed shortly after takeoff from an airport on Beaver Island into about 4 to 6 feet of water (1.2 to 1.8 meters). The couple was doing a sightseeing flight, Vondra said.
The man's injuries were minor, the Petoskey News-Review reported.
A commuter plane crash at an airport on Beaver Island in November 2021 killed four of the five people aboard.