Feb. 9 -- A mother and her three children were rescued today after their chartered plane crashed on Lake Michigan's Beaver Island, authorities said.
Mirth Gault of Orland Park, Ill. and her sons Adam, 13, and Alex, 5, are in good condition, said officials at a hospital in Charlevoix in northwestern Michigan. Gault's daughter, Emma, 9, was listed in fair condition. The pilot, Curtis Logan, 51, of Little Falls, Minn., andco-pilot Steve Erhart, 23, of Elgin, Ill., were killed in the crash on Beaver Island.
Michigan officials said Gault and her children are lucky to be alive.
"They're in good shape," said Charlevoix County sheriff George Lasater. "Good condition other than a few scrapes and abrasions."
Gault and her children will be hospitalized overnight for observation.
Their plane, a chartered twin-engine Merlin 4-C, disappeared Thursday evening on a flightfrom Chicago to their second home on Beaver Island in northern Lake Michigan. The plane last had routine contact with controllers around 6:20 p.m. EST and was not discovered until a commercial pilot flying overhead spotted the wreckage this morning.
"They did find the aircraft wreckage 1 mile west of the airporton a bluff," said Lasater.
Before the rescue, poor visibility, fog, freezing rain and snow had hindered the search efforts by helicopters and a plane. Thehelicopters were able to search about 560 square miles beforecalling off the search Thursday night.
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