Pilot Survives Plane Crash Into Umatilla Lake

    A small, single-engine airplane experienced trouble immediately after takeoff last Tuesday night from the Umatilla Municipal Airport, and crashed in East Lake just north of the airstrip. The incident occurred around 8 p.m. on Tuesday, September 5, and left the pilot reportedly suffering non-life-threatening injuries.
   FAA data indicates the plane is owned by Kevin Sheehan of Winter Springs, though it is not confirmed that the owner was the pilot at the time of the crash.
   Residents in the area reported hearing the plane take off, followed shortly by what sounded like a mechanical issue. One resident on East Lake Mark Zimmerman, saw the plane in the water and quickly sought to be of assistance.
   “It sunk quick,” Zimmerman said. “Like in a minute or two.”
   Zimmerman had grabbed an oar and got into a small boat and began paddling to the crash scene, but the pilot was already out of the plane and swimming to shore.
   “He’s lucky it was right side up,” Zimmerman said.
   The pilot had filled the plane with gasoline just before takeoff, and Umatilla city officials immediately ceased the sale of fuel until it could be tested. After it was found to be OK, sales resumed.
   The plane came to rest near the eastern shore of the lake, and sunk in what was estimated to be 15 feet of water. It remained there until Thursday, when FAA officials and Sea Tow crews arrived to begin a several-hours long process of extracting the craft.
   A diving crew placed airbags under the plane in strategic areas, inflating them slowly to allow the plane to come to the surface under equalized pressure. Once it was raised, the plane was pulled to an area along the lake's north shore, where city public works crews had helped clear a small area. A crane brought to the scene by Sea Tow drug the plane onto shore, where it was lifted onto a trailer for removal from the scene.
   The plane was identified by the FAA as a 2005 Vans RV-8, a two-seat plane capable of 220 miles per hour and a flight ceiling of 21,000 feet. It is described as a 'kit' model aircraft in its FAA registry.
   It was unknown if any of the plane’s 42 gallons of fuel or any other fluids had seeped into the lake.