River rescue: Anglers catch pilot
The single-engine airplane that crash landed Thursday in a rice paddy on the Mississippi River went down moments after it had taken off from the Brainerd Lakes Regional Airport.
Pilot Rory Fredstrom, 59, Brainerd, reported he lost speed and altitude after taking off from the airport and had to ditch the Piper P-18 plane in the rice paddies on the river.
Paul Wieland and Jason Wenning were fishing off the point when the plane went into the water.
"He went right by us," Wenning said. The two men could see the pilot who never looked to the side but kept his attention straight ahead.
"You could hear the engine wasn't running perfectly," Wenning said, but they weren't sure the plane was going to crash land until it did just that.
People, whose heads barely showed above the growing rice, worked Friday to get a plane that crash-landed in the Mississippi River to shore. The plane crashed in rice paddies on the river a little before 8 p.m. Thursday. Anglers who were fishing nearby helped the pilot to shore. Brainerd Dispatch/Kelly Humphrey» Purchase reprints of this photo.
"It was pretty surreal," he said.
The anglers reached the nearby plane and said Fredstrom had already gotten out of the cockpit and appeared to have escaped with just a small cut on his arm.
Wieland helped Fredstrom into the boat. It was an unexpected catch of the day. Wieland, visiting from Michigan, said he was beating his host.
"I've got three fish and one pilot," he said.
Wieland said Fredstrom appeared to be a little in shock but he was certainly calm. When the anglers approached, Fredstrom simply said: "Hello."
"He said the engine just went," Wieland remembered. "He said he started to lose it about the time he saw the Mississippi."
The fishermen assisted Fredstrom to shore.
Emergency responders were alerted to the plane crash about 7:54 p.m. The crash was near Greens Bar off Sorenson Lake Road in Center Township. Sorenson Lake Road is just south of Merrifield.
Friday, Fredstrom's family reported he was out on the water working to remove the plane from the river and hopeful it wasn't significantly damaged.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency in Baxter reported booms were placed around the plane to contain an aviation fuel spill but with just 20 gallons of fuel in the plane, it was considered a minor spill.
Mission Fire Department, Brainerd Fire Department and North Ambulance assisted at the scene. The sheriff's department and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the crash. It was the fourth plane crash in the Brainerd lakes area in the past two months.
RENEE RICHARDSON may be reached at renee.richardson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5852.