Redmond man crashes experimental plane into Lake Sammamish

An experimental float plane spun out of control on the south end of Lake Sammamish this morning while attempting to land.

The pilot, 82-year-old Paul Weston of Redmond, escaped with minor injuries including sore ribs and pain in his calf. He was not hospitalized.

Weston, described by police as an "amateur hobby builder," had flown for approximately five minutes before the incident occurred.

King County Marine Patrol units responded to the accident around 10:47 a.m., and the Federal Aviation Administration is launching an investigation into the incident, according to Bellevue Police.

Weston was towed to shore near Bellevue's Vasa Park by a crew that he assembled for the test flight. His ensemble included a rescue diver and a film crew that were tracking him in a private boat.

The experimental aircraft, between 12 feet and 15 feet long, is designed to land on the belly of its fuselage rather than on a pair of skids as with traditional float planes. It also uses a single rear propeller and has tip skis on each wing to keep them from dipping into the water.

Weston told authorities that the plane was traveling at around 50 knots during his attempted landing. He said the left wing dipped into the water, causing the plan to spin out of control and land right-side up.

Weston escaped without major injuries and said to the media throng that soon assembled he was "just a little excited."

Weston also told authorities that he created the plane based on radio-control models he had designed in the past.

"Based on the performance of those models, he decided to build a plane for human use," said Bellevue Police spokesman Det. Tory Mangione.

Weston has a student sport pilot's license, according to Bellevue Police. He had logged 30 hours of flight time for that type of license, and had flown his experimental float plane once before.

The 83-year-old said that he learned how to build a plane "by reading books."

"I've built model aircraft before," he said. "This is the first full sized one I've built."

Sammamish editor Jake Lynch contributed to this report.

Contact Redmond Reporter Contributor Joshua Hicks at jhicks@bellevuereporter.com.

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