Sheriff: 1 hurt after small plane crash-lands in Arkansas

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating after a single-engine plane crash landed in north Arkansas on Sunday, June 18, 2018, according to the Baxter County sheriff's office. One person was injured.
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating after a single-engine plane crash landed in north Arkansas on Sunday, June 18, 2018, according to the Baxter County sheriff's office. One person was injured.

A co-pilot was hurt after a single-engine plane crash-landed Sunday morning in north Arkansas, authorities said.

The landing happened around 10:15 a.m. at the Gaston’s White River Resort landing strip, according to a news release Monday from the Baxter County sheriff’s office.

Pilot Eric S. Neff, 46, of Norfolk, Va., told authorities that he was conducting a flyover at the grassy strip to check conditions on a 1996 A-36 model fixed-wing plane when he “banked her and the engine lost power,” the release said.

Neff reported he was attempting to land on the field before noticing pedestrians walking across the strip in the path of the aircraft. The plane eventually landed "on its belly in a hay field near the landing strip," the release states.

A co-pilot, whose identity was not released, sustained a minor injury, Baxter County Sheriff John F. Montgomery said. The pilot and a third passenger were not hurt.

Authorities said the single-engine plane was registered to Flygare LLC of Norfolk, Va.

The Federal Aviation Administration has been called to investigate the crash landing.

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