- Date
- 2018-12-30
- Kind
- Accident
- Where
- Beaver Island
- Eras
- Modern era
- Concepts
- aviationemergency-responsedeath-burial
- Within
- Beaver Island
Summary
On December 30, 2018, Donald Stuart Falik, 72, of Charlotte, Michigan, died in a plane crash on Beaver Island. The contemporary report says the Piper twin-engine aircraft was found in a wooded area off Buff Kett Road after a report of a loud explosion near Peaine Township Airport. It identifies Falik as the pilot and sole occupant and says the Charlevoix County Sheriff’s Office, FAA, and NTSB investigated.
Evidence limits
The forum post reproduces a regional television report and attributes facts to responding and investigating agencies, making the death and basic incident description stronger than anonymous forum commentary. It does not establish the cause of the crash, exact coordinates, aircraft registration, or final investigative findings. Those should come from the FAA/NTSB docket or the original broadcast and official records.
Sources
- Forum post reproduces a WPBN/WGTU report and links 9&10 News. It attributes search and investigation details to the Beaver Island Fire Department and EMS, Charlevoix County Sheriff, U.S. Coast Guard, FAA, and NTSB, and identifies Donald Stuart Falik, 72, of Charlotte, as the pilot and only person aboard. The forum copy is a pointer/reproduction; the linked broadcast or official investigative record is the stronger underlying source.forum · www.beaverislandforum.com · 13 · t013829
- Follow-up posts provide a local expression of loss and link an obituary; they do not add accident-cause evidence.forum · www.beaverislandforum.com · 13 · t013829
Added 7 August 2026. Recent changes
Cite this article
Beaver Island Archive, “Pilot Donald Stuart Falik dies in a Beaver Island plane crash, December 30, 2018”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/events/beaver-island-plane-crash-donald-falik-2018/, accessed [date], citing Beaver Island Forum, “Pilot Killed In BI Plane Crash,” December 31, 2018. (and 1 further source listed on the page).
Last revised 2026-08-07. Fill in [date] with the date you read it — this page is static and cannot know that.
BibTeX for “Pilot Donald Stuart Falik dies in a Beaver Island plane crash, December 30, 2018”RIS for “Pilot Donald Stuart Falik dies in a Beaver Island plane crash, December 30, 2018”