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Brine shrimpers working the harvest on the Great Salt Lake rescued a fixed-wing airplane pilot after he crashed the craft near Stansbury Island on Thursday afternoon.

Utah State Parks spokesman Eric Stucki said the plane took off from the Skypark Airport in Woods Cross and went down about 12:45 p.m.

"His engine failed, which forced him to make a controlled landing," Stucki said.

The pilot, a Davis County man whose name was not released, was its lone occupant, Stucki said.

A brine shrimp boat was working nearby and fished the pilot from the salty water. Shrimpers contacted the state parks and then handed the pilot over to a rescue boat from the Great Salt Lake Marina.

The pilot was shaken up and cold from the water, but claimed to be unharmed, Stucki said. He refused medical treatment and went home with his wife who picked him up at the marina, about 15 miles west of Salt Lake City, near Salt Air.

The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration will investigate the crash.

The plane remained in the water Thursday afternoon and state parks staff was working to mark its location because it poses a navigational hazard on the water, Stucki said.

Because of the plane's wood and fiber construction, it is floating just under the lake's surface, he said.

The owner of the two-seat plane, a 2009 Grega GN-1 Aircamper, was not on board and will be contacted about the incident, Stucki said. Once the accident investigation is complete, it's the owner's responsibility to get the plane out of the lake, he said.

pmanson@sltrib.com

Twitter: @PamelaMansonSLC