SCHOOLCRAFT COUNTY, MI— An Escanaba pilot escaped injury when he had to make an emergency landing on a Schoolcraft County lake last week.
Mark Meyer, 62, took off from the Manistique Airport Thursday afternoon and was practicing air maneuvers over Indian Lake when the plane’s engine failed. Meyer landed on the frozen surface of the lake. Snow broke the aircraft’s landing gear and the plane slid on the ice, which damaged the main body of the aircraft.
Within three minutes, Department of Natural Resources Conservation Officer Rob Freeborn arrived at the lake on a snowmobile and made contact with Meyer, who wasn’t injured.
A few hours later, Meyer’s flight instructor used a side-by-side off-road vehicle to safely remove the plane from the ice.
