'Survivor II' star OK after plane crashes He and family escape serious injury as craft goes down in Petoskey By John Flesher / Associated Press TRAVERSE CITY -- Michael Skupin, who suffered severe burns as a contestant in the Survivor television series, is a survivor once more. Skupin and six others, including his pregnant wife and 3-year-old daughter, escaped serious injury Sunday when the twin-engine plane in which they were riding crash-landed along the rocky Lake Michigan shoreline in Petoskey. "It really is an act of God that we just walked away," Skupin said Monday in a phone interview. Skupin, 39, of White Lake Township, was forced to leave CBS's highly rated Survivor II: The Australian Outback reality television series after his hands were badly burned when he passed out over a fire. Later, he considered running for the U.S. Senate but decided against it. Steve Zucker / Associated Press An occupant of the twin-engine Piper carrying Michael Skupin and six others receives medical attention after plane crashed. The software publishing company owner, who also runs a firm that works with Christian motivational speakers, was on Mackinac Island last weekend for a Michigan Republican conference. He spoke at a religious service there Sunday. Afterward, he departed in the 1977 Piper fixed-wing aircraft with his wife, Penny, and daughter Emily. Also aboard were pilot Randolph Rice of Milford, his wife, Sara, and their sons, 4-year-old Lee and 2-year-old Kevin. Rice had planned to stop at Pellston Regional Airport to refuel, then head for Detroit, said Emmet County Sheriff Jeffrey Bodzick. Heavy rain and fog kept him from landing, and at some point, the plane's engines failed. "We knew we were going down," Skupin said. "I prayed the whole time, nonstop. I had a peaceful feeling. I just felt, somehow, that we were going to be OK." When the plane descended below the clouds, it was obvious the only places to land were on a road or along the water, he said. "We just went right for the lake." As the wheels touched down, they caught on rocks and the aircraft began tumbling. "I felt the cockpit just cave in on me," Skupin said. "It was a crazy feeling." When the battered plane stopped, it was upside down at the edge of Little Traverse Bay. Bodzick said Rice "did a remarkable job" at bringing the plane down. The occupants were treated for scratches and bruises at Northern Michigan Hospital. All were released. Skupin said he had "a pretty bad case of whiplash" and some bumps, while pilot Rice needed stitches. The three children were unhurt. The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating, Bodzick said. Skupin has been taking flying lessons from Rice and said he planned to continue. He said his second narrow escape from mortal danger had strengthened his faith. Still, he said, "I'm definitely using up my nine lives pretty quickly."