Plane lands in desert patch just short of Henderson Airport
A small plane bound for Nashville, Tennessee landed just short of the Henderson Executive Airport on Monday afternoon.
Neither of the two people on board was injured, said Chris Jones, McCarran International Airport spokesman. The plane was on its way from Porterville, California, a small city just west of Sequoia National Forest, when Jones said it diverted to Henderson "because of the bad weather."
Jones said investigators on the scene "believe the aircraft lost power on its way down to the runway."
Henderson Fire responded and located the plane, which was on a desert patch near St. Rose Parkway and Alper Center Drive — near Seven Hills Drive — around 5:20 p.m. Because there were no injuries and no fire, aviation officials weren't quick to call it a crash, but Jones said it was "obviously not a normal landing."
Federal Aviation Administration records show the six-seater, single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza plane is registered to Jonathan Richey, 36, a practicing dermatologist out of Prosper, Texas, but aviation officials were unable to confirm Monday whether he was on board for the Nashville trip.
Contact Rachel Crosby at rcrosby@reviewjournal.com pr 702-387-5290. Find her on Twitter: @rachelacrosby
