Paddleboarders rescue pilot who crashed plane in Austin lake

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A pilot crashed a small airplane into Lady Bird Lake in downtown Austin and was helped to shore by paddleboarders, officials said.

The pilot, a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department game warden, was on a test flight Thursday afternoon when the crash occurred, officials said. He was taken to a hospital with potentially serious injuries, medics said.

The pilot reported mechanical issues and was forced to land in the lake, a Texas Parks and Wildlife spokesperson said. The plane had just come out of routine maintenance.

A bystander, Nicholas Compton, told Austin TV station KXAN that he heard a paddleboarder yell that a plane had landed in the water. Compton said he then helped bring the pilot to shore.

“I was expecting to see something much worse than a man still alive floating so I was very relieved to see that he was still conscious … So, it wasn’t much thinking except just getting him to the shore to medical services,” Compton told the TV station.