Officers at the Mesquite Police Department were dispatched to the area of the Mesquite Municipal Airport on a reported plane crash Saturday afternoon shortly after 12:30.
The single engine airplane had two passangers on board. Officers arrived on scene and observed aircraft and barricade debris on Kitty Hawk Drive below the West end of the airport’s runway. The Cessna Caravan plane was located several hundred feet away on the 17th hole of the Canyons Golf Course.
The pilot, Alan Best, 25, of Washington, Utah, and passenger Paul Kurt, 43, of Roscoe, South Dakota, were out of the aircraft and being assisted by witnesses when police and Mesquite Fire and Rescue arrived on scene. Best was treated and released on scene while Kurt was transported to Mesa View Regional Hospital where he was treated and later released.
According to one eyewitness, the plane was experiencing a strong tail wind while landing and it appeared that the plane’s engine was not running and the propeller was not turning.
The exact cause of the crash will not be determined until the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) completes its investigation.