FAA Investigating Cause of Plane Crash on Lake Michigan Beach

Hanna Theile snapped this photo after a single-engine plane crashed on a private Lake Michigan beach Sunday. (Photo via @HannaTheile via Twitter, used with permission)

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A pilot walked away with minor injuries after crashing a small plane on a private beach near Holland State Park in western Michigan Sunday, according to media reports.

Witnesses “blew up the phones” with calls about the crash of the silver single-engine plane about 6:45 p.m. on the southwest shore of Lake Michigan, Debora Malone, supervisor for the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office 911 emergency center, told the Detroit News.

The pilot, identified as 66-year-old Steven Stam, put the plane down in the grassy dunes behind Spyglass Condominiums in Holland, avoiding both buildings and beach-goers.

The Federal Aviation Administration will conduct “both a paper investigation and probably something physical” to determine the cause of the Alon A2 plane, FAA spokesman Ronald Herwig said.

“We don’t know if it’s a mechanical problem,” he said. “That’ll be part of the investigation.”

Witness Jackee Thompson told The Grand Rapids Press the plane was flying low to the ground just before the crash. “Something didn’t sound right,” Thompson said. “The plane started going down, and the next thing you know, everybody is running to the crash site.”

Another witness, Mary Workman, said she didn’t hear a plane engine, only a “thud” when the plane hit the ground. “I did not hear a plane engine, no. I would have known if I had heard that,” Workman told WOOD-TV.