Eight Feared Dead After Planes Collide, Crash Into Idaho Lake

Two planes collided midair and crashed into an Idaho lake Sunday with an estimated 8 people onboard, according to the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office.

“It is believed there are no survivors,” Kootenai County Lt. Ryan Higgins said in a statement on Facebook. Two people were pulled from the water and pronounced dead at the scene, though they have yet to be identified. The sheriff’s office is working to verify that there were eight people onboard the two planes, the statement said.

The two planes collided early Sunday afternoon and crashed into Lake Coeur d’Alene in Idaho, according to Higgins. They crashed near Powderhorn Bay, one of the more isolated parts of the lake.

Both planes have been located by a sonar team, and are sitting in 127 feet of water, according to the statement.

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One of the two planes involved was a Cessna 206, a small, single-engine plane, said Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, according to The New York Times.

The National Transportation Safety Board will be investigating the crash, according to KREM 2. The sheriff’s office expects that the entire investigation will be a multi-day process.

Patrick Pearce, a certified pilot, said he witnessed the two planes approximately 800 feet above the water, The Spokesman-Review reported. Pearce said that he could tell that the planes were traveling fast by the sounds of their engines.

Higgins said an investigation was underway, and that it was not immediately clear what may have caused the crash, The New York Times reported.

The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Daily Caller News Foundation.