OSHKOSH, WI (WLUK) –One of two people have been pulled from Lake Winnebago after the plane they were traveling in crashed into the water, just off Asylum Point, Saturday morning.
At around 9:06 a.m. the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office Communications Center received several 911 calls regarding the crashed plane.
Lt. Darin Rice, of the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office, says the victims are a male about 20 years old and a female about 30 years old. Rice says it appears they had been at EAA AirVenture and are not from the area.
“The position of the plane is making it difficult to recover the second body,” said Rice. “Our dive team is diligently working to try to get into the plane to find the second body.”
Rice says the plane is several miles into Lake Winnebago, about half way between the Asylum Bay boat launch and the mouth of the river. He says the plane is in water about 15 to 20 feet deep.
Witnesses say they heard the crash and saw debris floating in the water but didn’t see anyone emerge, witnesses also believe it was a small plane.
“We heard a big bang at the time,” said Scott VanAsten of Freedom, who was fishing at the time. “I got turned around. I did not see anything, so I took off with the rest of the boats….all we really saw was just a lot of debris floating in the water and aviation fuel. We could not find anybody.”
Emergency personnel launched off Asylum Point Park.
The Winnebago County Marine Units with dive rescue/recovery team members, along with the Oshkosh Fire Department were at the scene.
Winneconne Fire Department, Neenah Menasha Fire Rescue, Calumet County Sheriff’s Office, Wisconsin DNR, US Coast Guard, and the US Coast Guard Auxiliary all responded to the scene to immediately begin an emergency rescue response.
The Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office says it is working closely with EAA, the NTSB, and the FAA as well.
People are being asked to avoid the area of the Asylum Bay boat launch.
According to the U.S. Coast Guard, the airplane was a T-6 Texan.
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