Floatplane Pilot Rescues Thrown Boater from Lake

On April 30, 2012, three seaplane pilots rescued a boater just before dark who’d had been thrown in the water. 20-year old Alexander James Higginbotham was already becoming hypothermic while treading water for 15-20 minutes in the frigid 45° water. He’d been in a 14-foot fishing boat when the bolts he used to attach a seat to the boat broke, sending him backwards into the water. Rusty Eichorn, an Itasca County Commissioner, owned the Cessna 180 floatplane that made the rescue and he was assisted by pilots Lynn Bohanon and Kenny Forst who were also on board.

Oregon to Discriminate Against Seaplanes

The Oregon State Marine Board is poised to ban seaplanes on Waldo Lake, even though a Federal court ruled in 2009 that the ban was arbitrary, capricious and an abuse of discretion. I rarely ask anything of my readers, but I will now. Please take a few minutes to send a letter or email to the Oregon State Marine Board and oppose the provision of OAR 250-020-0221 and OAR 250-030-0030 that bans floatplanes from Waldo Lake. The Columbia River Seaplane Pilots Association has a Waldo Lake page that lists a number of reasons why Waldo Lake should remain open to floatplane owners.