On Thursday March 16, 2017 at 12:10 p.m., the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office received information of a possible downed aircraft near Willcox. Albuquerque Air Traffic Control reported that the RV/8 single prop with one occupant left the airport there earlier in the morning enroute to the Willcox airport.
Sheriff’s Deputies responded along with Willcox Department of Public Safety to the last known GPS coordinates for the aircraft.
The engine failed and the pilot was able to land on a dirt road next to a pecan orchard.The pilot called Albuquerque Center FAA Air Traffic Control Center and told them of the engine failure. They kept talking to him until he was close to the ground then lost radar and radio contact. He landed on Last Outpost Road.
The pilot and his passenger, his wife, sent a text message to their son saying that there were no injuries.