Authorities investigating plane crash at Lake Thompson

(KSFY)
Published: Jun. 7, 2016 at 10:37 PM CDT
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A pilot died Tuesday after crash landing into Lake Thompson.

The passenger on board survived and is being treated at the De Smet hospital.

Crews investigated the crash all day Tuesday, but in order to know exactly what made the plane go down they had to dredge it from the lake, a process that took several hours.

Volunteers from area came out to help Kingsbury sheriff’s deputies pull the lane from the water.

A boat spent several hours slowly towing it to shore so the craft wasn’t damaged any further.

Once it was at the shoreline, crews worked to carefully move it out of the water.

The plane’s passenger survived the crash.

He told the sheriff the engine stalled before the crash, but crews want to know why.

“There’s a lot of factors you could look into but of course trying to decide what caused the crash or what caused the engine failure,” Sheriff Kevin Scotting said.

The passenger was rescued by a boater and taken to the De Smet hospital.

Sheriff Kevin Scotting says he is in good condition.

“I guess he’s in fair condition, walking and talking he’s a lucky man,” Scotting explained.

Because it isn’t often a person survives something like this.

“With a plane crash your chances of walking away are, I don’t think are really very good, especially with a small plane. They don’t have to hit the ground very hard to do a lot of damage,” Scotting said.

The Kingsbury Sheriff has not released the names of either the pilot or the passenger.

The Codington County Search and Rescue was called into assist and was able to locate the pilot’s body Tuesday.

The crash victim was removed from the aircraft before the plane was moved to shore.

The FAA is working with the Kingsbury Sheriff's Office to investigate the cause of the crash.