Sheriff: At least 8 killed in plane collision at Idaho lake

At least eight people, including three children, were killed when two airplanes collided over a scenic lake in northern Idaho, the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office said on Monday. One of the aircraft was a float plane operated by Brooks Seaplanes of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, which operates scenic flights over Lake Coeur d' Alene, the sheriff's office said.

That plane was carrying five passengers, including three children, and a pilot, the sheriff's office said. The second airplane was a Cessna 206 that was carrying at least two people, the sheriff's office said.

A sheriff's dive team located the wreckage in about 125 feet (40 metres) of water, and the bodies of three victims have been recovered so far, the sheriff's office said. Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board are headed to the scene, the sheriff's office said.

The planes collided in the air near Powderhorn Bay at about 3:30 pm on Sunday and plunged into the water, the sheriff's office said. The lake was busy with boaters on the Fourth of July weekend and numerous personal boats went to the scene immediately in search of survivors. The sheriff's marine teams, fire departments and the US Coast Guard also responded.

Sheriff's Lt Ryan Higgins said the recovered bodies had not been identified. Witnesses told news outlets they saw the two airplanes flying towards each other and colliding in mid-air, then plunging a few hundred feet into the lake.

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