FAYETTEVILLE -- A pilot who died Monday night had brought a friend up "to school" and was returning to Texas when the plane crashed south of Prairie Grove, according to the Washington County sheriff's office.
Gabriel Hatton, 17, of McKinney, Texas, was the only person on board, according to the sheriff's office. No injuries on the ground were reported.
A fixed-wing, single-engine Cessna 150 crashed in the Cove Creek area just before 9 p.m., according to a preliminary report by the Federal Aviation Administration.
The cause of the crash was not known.
Kelly Cantrell, public information officer for the sheriff's office, said Hatton's father said his son had made the flight a few times before.
Washington County Sheriff Tim Helder said the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board will take charge of the investigation. Helder said his office will assist.
Washington County Coroner Roger Morris said the preliminary investigation indicated the cause of death is blunt force trauma. Morris said the body was sent to the state medical examiner's office for an autopsy.
The plane crashed in woods near 21000 Pierson Road. The Cessna had taken off from Drake Field en route to an airfield in Texas. The aircraft was registered to Wingnut Enterprises LLC, which operates out of Allen, Texas.
Washington County officials say information from the U.S. Air Force played a key role in finding the plane.
John Luther, Washington County's director of emergency management, said the Rescue Coordination Center at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida used radar to give searchers an approximate latitude and longitude for the Cessna 150. Emergency personnel used those coordinates to narrow their search, Luther said.
"It was extremely accurate and very helpful," Luther said. "Things like that not only speed the process but help keep our first responders safe."
Luther said the plane went down in a remote area, heavily wooded with rugged terrain.
A sheriff's deputy found the plane at 11:13 p.m.
Luther said more than 40 first responders from the county and local police and fire departments were involved in the search. Agencies included the sheriff's office; Washington County Department of Emergency Management; Washington County Urban Search and Rescue; Air Evac; Central EMS; and the Strickler, Prairie Grove, West Fork, Lincoln and Morrow fire departments.
"It went off about as smoothly as I've seen, especially when you consider the terrain," Luther said. "Everything was up and down, rocky. It was dark and the tree canopy is as thick as can be."
The Washington County sheriff's office received multiple calls about the crash, the first of which came in shortly before 8:45 p.m., Cantrell said.
Helder said initial reports indicated residents heard what sounded like an aircraft losing power, stalling out and going down.
Metro on 09/25/2019