Northwest Crew, Crisp Police Work Saves Pilot

Thursday, Steve Lere, 49, of Biwabik (MN), stopped to buy fuel at New Richmond (WI). The only problem was, they were out of gas. "No problem," he thought, as he considered flying to the next-available gas in Rush City (MN). That plan worked for about three minutes.

The little ol' 175 (file photo) ran out of gas, and it was dark. Lere tried to call the Minneapolis tower, but couldn't reach anyone there. Fortunately, he was overheard by a Northwest pilot, who relayed his troubles, as Steve looked for a flat spot to land.

Such a flat spot was readily available, on the St Croix river. A Minnesota State Patrol helicopter picked him up about 11:30, an hour and a half after touchdown on the ice.

He's a lucky man. No only did he not damage the plane in landing, public workers were able to fetch the Skylark and drag it to land without damaging it. Steve, who has held his airman's ticket for nearly a year, refueled, and flew out -- with a full tank, this time.

**   Report created 1/3/2003   Record 7   **
IDENTIFICATION
  Regis#: 9266B        Make/Model: C175      Description: 175, Skylark
  Date: 01/03/2003     Time: 0430
  Event Type: Incident   Highest Injury: None     Mid Air: N    Missing: N
  Damage: Unknown
LOCATION
  City: RUSH CITY   State: MN   Country: US
DESCRIPTION
  AT 0430Z N9266B CALLED MAYDAY, OUT OF FUEL. LANDED ON THE ST. CROIX RIVER SOUTH OF RUSH CITY. THROUGH RELAY WITH OTHER AIRCRAFT AND STATE TROOPER HELP, THE PILOT WAS RECUSED FROM THE RIVER. THE PLANE IS STILL ON THE ICE OF THE ST. CROIX RIVER. RUSH CITY, MN.
INJURY DATA      Total Fatal:   0
                 # Crew:  1     Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
                 # Pass:   0     Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
                 # Grnd:         Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
WEATHER: UNK
OTHER DATA
  Activity: Unknown      Phase: Landing      Operation: General Aviation
  Departed: UNK                         Dep Date:    Dep. Time:
  Destination: UNK                      Flt Plan: UNK          Wx Briefing: U
  Last Radio Cont:
  Last Clearance:
  FAA FSDO: MINNEAPOLIS, MN  (GL15)               Entry date: 01/03/2003