Golf pro died in Idaho seaplane crash along with his three kids

The widow of a pro-golfer who died with their three children when two planes collided over a scenic Idaho lake over the Fourth of July weekend were on their first family summer vacation ever at the time of the tragedy. 

April Fredrickson said her husband Sean’s golf schedule had made it literally impossible for the family to take summer vacations prior to the mid-air collision over Lake Coeur d’ Alene Sunday. 

Sean, 48, his son Hayden, 16, and two stepchildren Sofia, 16, and Quinn Olsen, 11, also were on their first sea plane ride when it crashed. The four family members and pilot, Neil Lunt, 58, were among eight people killed when he planes collided near Powderhorn Bay about 2.30pm.

A six passenger recovered from the sea plane has not yet been identified, as rescue efforts continue for two passengers from the other aircraft, says the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office. 

Fredrickson’s widow April, 46, told People that her husband had little time off during the summer because of his golf schedule. 

‘My husband’s in the golf industry and time off in the summer is extremely rare. So we literally never had summer vacations,’ she told the magazine on Wednesday.

‘This was the first time that we had gone anywhere in the summer,’ the widow said. She had been along for the vacation, but chose not to ride the sea plane when her family boarded the floating aircraft, operated for tourists over Lake Coeur d’ Alene.

The widow said her husband, a PGA country club head in Lake Oswego, Washington, was looking forward to the time off to ‘decompress’. The family had been staying at Sean’s parent’s home in Spokane, Washington, for the July 4th holiday. 

April, who waited while her family took the 20-minute plane ride, did not know what had happened after she said the excursion stretched to more than an hour. Not concerned, she said she went to get an ice cream and upon her return saw two officers from the sheriff’s office.

‘The sheriffs came and got me and told me that there had been a collision, and that they didn’t know much at the time and that they were just kind of waiting to find the plane,’ April told People.

The widow confessed to the magazine that for a moment before her husband and kids departed, ‘it went through my mind that this might be the last time I see my family.’ 

‘It was more of a jokey kind of thing, but it crossed my mind,’ she said. ‘Anytime you send your entire family on something that seems kind of risky, you know, that goes through your mind. And so it did.’ 

The widow said she took photos of Sean and their children before they boarded, including a photo of them practicing social distancing because of the coronavirus pandemic. 

She also had everyone do a group hug before takeoff, she told People.

‘Not like a serious group hug. It was more me just saying, okay, give mom a hug,’ she said. ‘But they were already like halfway on the plane. And I kinda just gave them a hug, sent them on the plane and started taking pictures.’  

April vowed to move on from the tragedy. ‘I’m sad that I’m not going to be able to watch movies with my little guy anymore. I’m not gonna take my daughter to ‘say yes to the dress,’ which we had talked about and planned on,’ she told People as she remembered Quinn and Sofia.  

‘Like, there’s so many things that I’m sad for, but at the same time, they died happy, they died on a plane doing something that was really exciting for them and they didn’t know. And so I’m just so thankful that that’s how it happened,’ April explained. 

‘I’m trying to remember that. And then when I get that pit in my stomach, that burning, that just kind of that anxious feeling, I’m just trying to tell myself that I’m going to choose life and I’m going to take this opportunity and I’m going to create my life,’ she said. 

Her next steps will be to erect memorials to her husband and kids. 

She plans a memorial bicycle ride in honor of Sofia, who worked for cycle studio StarCycle and was also a lacrosse player. Her mother plans to use the proceeds to benefit her daughter’s lacrosse team.

Quinn, a video gamer, will be honored during a gaming night his mother plans for his friends.

April said she hopes to arrange a PGA tournament for her husband of nine years.

‘And if they’ll let me, I would like to take whatever profits or proceeds there are from that and basically earmark that money for diversity and inclusion initiatives at the PGA,’ she told People.

‘Because Sean was a really good mentor, but he also understood that the game of golf is not necessarily accessible to everyone,’ she explained. 

April added that Sean ‘really tried to mentor women and to make sure that women get the opportunities that they earn and to try and, you know, put women in a position to have more head pro positions.’

Crash investigation continues  

The air space over the lake did not appear to be any more crowded than usual on Sunday, Lt. Ryan Higgins said, initially speaking about what may have caused the crash, which remains under investigation.   

The second plane, a Cessna 206, was registered in Lewiston, Idaho, but it had departed from Felts Field in nearby Spokane, Washington, Higgins said. 

Two people on that plane have not been officially identified, but named by KHQ as Jay Cawley and his wife Kelly.

April on Monday said she was reeling from the loss.’

However, she also said she took solace in the fact that her family was on an adventure and so excited for their first sea plane ride.’

Sofia and Quinn’s father, Brian Olsen, said: ‘Sofia is a golden spirit and kept me striving to be better parent. Quinn (Q) looked up to his big sister and loved to be included in many memorable sports and experiences.’  

A sheriff’s dive team found the wreckage in about 125 feet of water and the bodies of three victims had been recovered as of Monday.

Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board also responded to the scene and will conduct the investigation into what happened, the sheriff’s office said. 

The large and popular lake, which is surrounded by vacation homes, was busy with boaters on the Fourth of July weekend. 

Numerous personal boats went to the scene immediately in search of survivors. The sheriff’s marine teams, fire departments and the US Coast Guard also responded.

The first two bodies were recovered on the surface by recreational boaters and turned over to the Coast Guard, Higgins said.

Witnesses told news outlets they saw the two airplanes flying towards each other and colliding in mid-air, then plunging a few hundred feet into the lake.

‘You could just see debris falling with it and can tell it was obviously an airplane in the sky,” witness Angie Bishop told KREM-TV.

The float plane was a de Havilland DHC2 that was built in 1956 and was owned by Brooks Seaplane, according to a Federal Aviation Administration data base. The plane was a fixture on the city of Coeur d’Alene waterfront, where Brooks is based. 

A makeshift memorial to the victims was set up at the Brooks site on Monday.

The other plane was a Cessna 206G registered to Echo Rental Co. of Lewiston, Idaho, according to the database. Officials are pretty sure only two people were aboard that plane, Higgins said.

‘The airplanes sank fairly quickly’ after colliding, he said.

The sheriff’s dive team cannot operate at the depth of the bottom of the lake, so a small remote-controlled robot submarine was sent down late Sunday and recovered the third victim, Higgins said.

The bodies of two additional victims have been located at the lake bottom, but not yet recovered, Higgins said. The search continued for the other three victims, he said.

‘Diving at that depth is very dangerous,” Higgins said.