By Lauren Lifke
A single-engine aircraft crashed in a field near McNabb and New Mexico Highway 41, just south of Moriarty on Tuesday morning, killing one person and injuring another, according to the Moriarty Fire Department.
The crash occurred at about 11:30 a.m., Moriarty airport manager Bob Hudson told The Indy by phone. Initial responders found the propeller plane down in a field with downed power lines and utility poles surrounding the aircraft, the fire department said in a social media post. Hudson said the plane left from Sandia East Airport in Edgewood.
The crash involved a flying instructor and a student, Torrance County Fire Chief Gary Smith said in a phone call. Officials are not yet able to release information on the identity of the person who died, he said.
The plane knocked out a power transformer and left some areas without power, which will likely be restored soon, Smith said. Central New Mexico Electric Cooperative was near the scene when the plane crashed, and officials were able to start working on fixing it right away, Smith Said. CNMEC did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Flight tracking from FlightAware.com showed the plane departing the Edgewood area just before 11 am and flying a route north towards Glorieta, then returning south roughly parallel to Highway 41. The plane’s path made a pass over the Moriarty airport’s east-west runway before making a sharp U-turn and ending the flight path in the location where the plane was found. The entire flight lasted just 32 minutes according to the radar track.
Two people were aboard the plane at the time of the crash, the fire department said. One occupant was pronounced dead at the scene by the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator. The second occupant was transported to an Albuquerque-area hospital in unknown condition.
The cause of the crash appears to be engine failure, according to the fire department.
The plane, a single-engine Bellanca, is registered to a pilot from Tennessee. The Indy could not immediately confirm whether the owner was among those on board.
The City of Moriarty Fire Department responded as mutual aid to the Torrance County Fire Department, which had primary jurisdiction over the incident. Multiple agencies assisted at the scene, including the Moriarty Police Department, Moriarty Airport Management, Torrance County Sheriff’s Office, Central New Mexico Electric Cooperative and the state medical investigator’s office.
No firefighters, law enforcement officers or utility workers were injured during the response, the fire department said.
The Federal Aviation Administration has been notified of the crash. Hudson said he had not yet seen the FAA come to the site for investigation as of about 3:30 p.m. The FAA and New Mexico State Police Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
