AirVenture-Bound Piper Cherokee Crashes in Lake Michigan

Stephen Pope

Monday, July 29, 2013 at 06:15 PM ET

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Key Takeaways:

Two men en route to EAA AirVenture died when their Piper Cherokee crashed into Lake Michigan on Saturday afternoon, shortly after departing Batten Airport in Racine, Wisconsin.
Coast Guard rescue crews located the submerged aircraft and the bodies of both men inside, a few miles off the Milwaukee coast.
Radar contact with the VFR flight was lost approximately 20 minutes after takeoff, and the pilot was not in communication with air traffic control.

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Two men headed for EAA AirVenture in a Piper Cherokee died on Saturday afternoon when they crashed into Lake Michigan shortly after departing from Batten Airport in Racine, Wisconsin.

Coast Guard rescue crews located the airplane submerged in the water a few miles off the coast near Milwaukee at around 5:30 p.m., an hour and a half after it crashed. The bodies of both men were found inside the airplane. The 1975 Piper was based at Batten Airport.