Riddles Lake, September 2012: the township's one documented aviation event

SEPTEMBER 2012 · PRESS STRENGTH ONLY — NOT AN ACCIDENT OF RECORD

Two seaplanes came down on Riddles Lake to wait out the weather, and one of them hit the water too hard. The township's whole documented aviation history, at the only strength it exists: a press aggregation of September 2012 ("Aircraft makes unexpected landing near Lakeville," Kathryn's Report, a press/blog aggregation — not an accident-board record) reports that "police and fire crews from several area departments were called out to Riddles Lake around noon, just south of Lakeville," and that "the FAA is investigating the incident." The account, paraphrased at the same strength: two seaplanes, a family of four from Illinois in one of them, were en route to Angola when they met rain; for safety they decided to land on the lake and wait for the weather to clear; one aircraft hit the water too hard and a cable underneath broke; the pilot steered to the shoreline; the pilot, her husband and two small children got out safely; the state's conservation officer on the scene characterised it as easy, with no injuries and no major damage; and the Lakeville Fire Department was praised for a quick response. Riddles Lake is the town's own name-lake (41.50456355, −86.260799938 in the lake carriers; 1.82 miles computed from the town point), inside Union Township, south of town. Three limits print with the event, expressly. The exact calendar date was not established — September 2012 stands at blog-date strength, and the original broadcaster or paper of record behind the aggregation was not reached (gap G-AIR-5). The event is a precautionary landing with minor damage, not an accident of record, and nothing in this build upgrades it. And a one-off landing on a lake does not make a facility: no seaplane base is registered for Riddles Lake in any list searched, and none is claimed.

Principal sources: Kathryn's Report, September 2012 (press aggregation, verbatim lines quoted; paraphrase labelled); the lake carriers (FishBrain / Lake-Link) for the lake's position.