3 Die in Cessna Crash Near Reno
| June 1st, 2011
June 1, 2011
Seventy-two hours after a Cessna 172 and its three passengers were reported missing, authorities discovered the plane’s wreckage in the steep terrain of the Peterson Mountain Range at the California/Nevada border. First responders found two men and one woman dead inside the plane.
The plane departed on Saturday from a Roseburg, Oregon, airport and was scheduled to land in Susanville, California, at 3 p.m. The plane’s wreckage was spotted and identified late Tuesday in Washoe County, Nevada—about 25 miles north of Reno.
A Reno woman spotted the glare of the crash through her binoculars and called it in around 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
With the difficult topography and sunset on the horizon, fire and rescue crews worked hard to get to the plane before sundown. Officials told KOLOTV.com that the victims would remain in the plane overnight on Tuesday so that they could utilize the light of Wednesday morning to better investigate the crash.
The names of the victims have not yet been released, though officials say they know their identities.
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration will investigate the crash.
If you or someone you know has had their safety compromised on a commercial or private aircraft, contact the aviation accident lawyers at Nurenberg, Paris, Heller & McCarthy.