Photo: Nevada State Police Highway Patrol
Three people were injured when an SUV struck a small plane after it made an emergency landing on a Nevada highway, according to Nevada State Police.
The crash was reported to have taken place on the southbound lane of U.S. 95 at Lee Canyon at approximately 9:40 a.m. on Saturday (January 7).
The DA20 two-seater plane experienced mechanical issues and was forced to land on the left shoulder of the road, at which point its right wing was struck by the windshield of a Nissan Pathfinder minutes later.
A witness at the scene said the Pathfinder was traveling at a high speed when it collided with the plane, 8 News Now reports.
Kevin King, a pilot who spotted the landed plane while flying a separate aircraft above the scene, told 8 News Now that he was told by North Las Vegas Airport air traffic control to "take our plane there immediately and make sure the pilots of the accident aircraft were OK,"
King confirmed both grounded pilots were uninjured during the emergency landing and were standing behind the right ring of the plane at the time.
The Pathfinder approached about 5-10 minutes later, according to King.
“What happened is the collision caused the plane to kick back and the right wing then hits both the instructor pilot and the other pilot,” King said via 8 News Now.
The driver of the Pathfinder and both occupants of the plane were transported to the University of Nevada Medical Center's trauma center with non-life threatening injuries, according to Nevada State Police.
Nevada State Police were continuing to investigate the crash as of Saturday.