When was the last time you crossed the Lilly Bridge to see a plane land and take off from Bluestone Lake?
“I didn’t see it land, but my husband was in the passenger seat and spotted the plane cruising down the lake toward the dam,” said Lelia Boyd. “We pulled over at an overlook near the entrance to Bluestone State Park, watched it, took a video and managed to record the plane’s take off.”
Boyd, from Princeton, said they were just heading toward Hinton to look around when they noticed the plane moving on the water. The Boyd’s said they have no idea where the plane was from, why it was there and who was in it, or where it was going.
The pilot or passenger in the seaplane posted a picture of the scenery observed while taking a brief trawl on the water. An observer had shared a picture and video of the surprise attraction noticed on a drive into Hinton.
Bluestone State Park Ranger Ben Leddom said, though curious, the state park has no jurisdiction over the lake itself. He directed Hinton News to Bluestone Lake Dam officials who were involved in removing trees and debris from the icy waters behind the dam and unable to take our call. Information from officials there will be shared as soon as it becomes available.
Russ Kennedy, operations manager at Yeager Airport, consulted FAA to confirm “as long as the pilot landed and took off safely it’s not a legal concern. If the pilot and water plane had gotten too close to Bluestone Dam it would’ve been up to the Army Corps of Engineers.”
Ranger John Drossert, ranger at the dam in Hinton said the plane apparently “posed no danger to other boats or activity on the lake and landed at a legal landing location.”
However, Drossert says the Army Corps of Engineers is going to have a public statement in a couple of days.
