Was Standing On A Float During Taxi When He Fell Into The Propeller

A Minneapolis, MN businessman was fatally injured Thursday while on a fishing trip to Canada. Jim Kowalski, along with his wife, founded the Kowalski's Markets regional chain of high-end grocery stores.

According to the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal, Kowalski was standing on one of the floats of the Cessna floatplane while it taxied to shore on a lake in Ontario, Canada. He reportedly lost his balance and fell into the turning prop resulting in the fatal injury.

The Twin Cities Pioneer Press reports that Kowalski, 68 and a licensed pilot, had flown the  Cessna 185 floatplane to remote Dee Dee lake in Ontario for a day's fishing. Dee Dee Lake is reported to be about 200 miles north of the border between Minnesota and Ontario and is said to be accessible only by floatplane or bush road. A second pilot, who was a friend of Kowalski's but who has not been identified, was also aboard the Cessna when the accident occurred.

Kowalski had been getting ready to step off the plane and secure it to the shore ... much like boaters do when approaching a dock. But when the plane contacted the shore, he lost his balance and fell forward into the prop.

His friend contacted authorities, and Kowalski was airlifted to Red Lake Airport. Paramedics there determined that he had suffered a fatal injury.

(Cessna 185 floatplane pictured in file photo. Not incident aircraft)

FMI: www.tsb.gc.ca/eng