A floatplane that took off from Arlington Municipal Airport made an emergency landing on Lake Ki Wednesday, and a passing boater towed the aircraft to shore after the pilot walked away unhurt. Marysville Fire District crews and Snohomish County Sheriff's deputies rushed to the lake, a quiet body of water tucked into the Seven Lakes area just north of the Tulalip Reservation, to handle a situation that could have gone very differently.
The pilot was the only person aboard and was not injured, according to KOMO News, which reported that a Good Samaritan boater towed the plane to shore as fire and sheriff's personnel arrived on scene. Marysville Fire Department officials suspect a fuel leak may have prompted the emergency landing, according to KING 5. Water rescue and hazmat teams were sent in to support the aircraft's recovery, though officials say no hazards to the pilot or the surrounding environment were found.
The Emergency Landing on Lake Ki
Lake Ki sits about 4.9 miles southwest of Arlington Municipal Airport, the facility the flight departed from, per WillyWeather. The pilot brought the aircraft down on the lake.
Ordinarily, Lake Ki sees a much slower pace of activity on the water. Snohomish County code restricts recreational boating there to motorized or electric vessels under 10 horsepower and caps speeds at 8 mph, the same report notes, a contrast to the emergency touchdown of a powered aircraft. Public access to the lake runs along State Highway 531, also known as Lakewood Road, where a gravel launch designed mainly for hand-carried watercraft and inflatables sits on the north shore.
The Legal Question of Landing a Plane on a Public Lake
Federal Aviation Administration guidelines treat seaplanes as watercraft once they're on the water, and they are generally permitted to land on public lakes open to motorized boating unless local or state rules explicitly say otherwise. Because the Lake Ki landing didn't involve injuries or severe structural damage, it's likely to be classified as an incident rather than a full-blown accident requiring a National Transportation Safety Board investigation, per federal reporting standards under 49 CFR Part 830.
Marysville Fire District responded, and water rescue and hazmat teams were sent to support the aircraft's recovery.
Hazmat Response
Officials suspected a fuel leak may have prompted the landing, and hazmat crews were among those dispatched.
Officials have not said where the Lake Ki pilot was ultimately headed before the emergency landing forced the change in plans.
