Handmade biplane crashes into Lake Wausau, pilot not injured

Wausau plane crash

WAUSAU (AP) — A 60-year-old man was not hurt after his handmade biplane crashed into Lake Wausau in central Wisconsin.

Marathon County Sheriff’s Lt. Dale Wisnewski says Glen Burt, of Wausau, was the only occupant of the plane.

The manager at Wausau Downtown Airport, John Chmiel, said Burt was approaching for a landing when he started “having difficulties with the engine” at about noon Saturday.

He compared the crash to a “fender bender.” He says a boater picked Burt up.

Chmiel says the airplane is Sopwith Pup, a single-engine World War I replica designed for one person.

He says Burt is an experienced pilot and the airplane had passed a Federal Aviation Administration inspection and flight tests.