M. Lisa Monroe - Express News Staff

A small aircraft equipped with pontoons crashed into a boggy area on First Lake a little after 11 a.m. on Aug. 18. The plane carried two people. The pilot has been reported dead, he was Robert Hurd, a 71 year-old Camden man. His 20 year-old grandson, Vincent Whitney, walked away from the accident out to the road and was transported to the hospital in Utica for treatment of injuries sustained in the accident.

Hurd's body was removed from the site around 1:30 p.m. The plane dove head first into the boggy area and its wings had to be cut off to get the plane out.

Coroner Dan Rivet, who declared Hurd dead at the scene, said that Hurd had 50 years of flying experience.

According to witnesses, Judy Foley and her husband "Doc," who live near the accident site, the plane almost came through their front window.

The Foleys were sitting in their living room when the plane came cruising down the channel. The sight of the plane passing their living room window is a common one according to Judy.

"I turned my head away because we're so used to seeing it," she said.

When she turned back she noticed that the plane had banked around and was coming for her home.

"I told Doc, 'We've got to get out of here,' it looked like it was that close," said Judy.

She thinks that the pilot realized that he couldn't get over the trees and then tried to make a sharp left. They didn't hear a crash, but when they looked out the window they saw a man on the deck next door gesturing and they realized that something bad had happened.

"The police and ambulance were here. There were so many vehicles it was like a traffic jam," said Foley.

The Town of Webb police and state police responded to the accident along with the  Old Forge Volunteer Fire Department.