SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — At least one person was hurt after a fixed-wing airplane crashed into the Rubicon Bay at Lake Tahoe Saturday morning, the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office said.
The plane, which was carrying two passengers, crashed into the lake around 10:18 a.m. Saturday. Boaters who were in the area at the time responded to the scene and rescued the two passengers, officials say.
Some of the helpful boaters were John and Svetlana Raleigh. They had taken their boat out on the water to kickstart their Fourth of July weekend when they noticed the plane sinking into the water.
"There was a plane, but not much left. And by the time we got there, I'd say within a minute, It was gone," said John Raleigh. "I said to him, ‘are you OK?’ and he said, ‘we’re lucky to be alive!’ They felt very grateful that they had survived because it could have been death, instant."
One of the passengers had a serious head injury.
The El Dorado County Sheriff's Office has marked the airplane with GPS coordinates for hazmat purposes because the plane is fully submerged in the lake.
In a statement, the Federal Aviation Administration described the plane as a Piper PA-28.
John Raleigh says the pilot and passenger were able to tell him what happened before the plane went down.
"They told me they were they were having engine trouble and they were going to try to get to Truckee, and then they realized they weren't going to make it so they were going to try to go to South Lake Tahoe," he said. "[The pilot] made the best of the situation. People would have died, but he'd figured out how to crash land that plane and walk away. It's, you know, it's pretty amazing."
Now the FAA is investigating the cause of the crash and will provide updates as they learn more.
Stay with ABC10 for more information.
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