We close out the week and head into the Labor Day weekend with these stories...
Have a safe weekend!
Tom
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Student, instructor critically hurt in small plane crash in Paulding County
The sheriff's office said first responders got to the scene quickly and pulled them out of the plane.
Author: Donesha Aldridge (11Alive)
PAULDING COUNTY, Ga. — A student and a flight instructor were critically hurt in a small plane crash in Paulding County Thursday night, according to Paulding County Sheriff Ashley Henson. 
He said the single-engine plane went down around 8 p.m., and first responders got to the scene quickly.
"As I understand it, the individuals that were in the plane actually were able to call 911. If I'm not mistaken, they were actually able to send a rough location as to where they were," Henson said.
The plane crashed on the western side of the county in a wooded area just east of the airport, not far from 278 West off Husley Town Road. The two people who were critically hurt -- the 18-year-old student and the 22-year-old instructor -- were the only ones on board.
Paulding County Fire and Rescue said Station 12 is located near the airport, and crews were able to get to the scene within minutes.
"The occupants of the plane were conscious & alert upon their arrival, with serious injuries, but were able to deplane with assistance from PCFR personnel," fire officials said in a statement.
Henson said that by the time he arrived, he was able to help first responders get the two people up the hill.
“They were probably about a quarter mile in the woods off of Hulsey Town Road," he said.
“The most important thing to talk about right now is the fact that we got two individuals who were in the plane at the time of the crash and they are both alive, last we heard," Henson said. "I think it’s most important that we pray for those individuals and their families.”
The Paulding County Emergency Management Agency Director Stephen Dooley said there were no hazardous conditions at the scene.
Law enforcement was still in the area Thursday night. Officials said the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board had been notified.
11Alive is working to learn more about what caused the crash.
https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/2-hurt-small-plane-crash-paulding-county/85-2692851a-b86f-4520-9fa7-0e778f5fa7cd
No injuries after helicopter makes hard landing in north Phoenix desert
By Brian Petersheim Jr. and Ben Bradley
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Authorities are investigating after a helicopter was damaged during a hard landing in a desert area of north Phoenix Thursday morning. 
Just before 10 a.m., first responders were called to reports of an aircraft down near Sonoran Desert Drive and Cave Creek Road. Crews arrived to find a helicopter upright, but missing its main and tail rotors.
Phoenix Fire Capt. Todd Keller says two pilots were not hurt and described the incident as a hard landing.
Online records show the helicopter is a Bell OH-58A registered to Dillon Flight Test Inc in Scottsdale.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says a preliminary report should be available by Friday. Other details were not immediately available.
https://www.azfamily.com/2026/09/03/helicopter-goes-down-rural-area-north-phoenix/?outputType=amp
Helicopter crash reported in Warren County
Brittney Baird
WARREN COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — A helicopter with two people inside crashed in McMinnville Thursday afternoon. 
The helicopter came down near the Warren County Memorial Airport on Old Nashville Highway just after 2 p.m.
According to Warren County Emergency Management, the helicopter came in to refuel and experienced a mechanical failure while leaving the airstrip.
One person was taken to an area hospital for treatment of injuries to their face. The other victim's injuries were not serious.
No additional information was immediately released.
No survivors in single-engine plane crash in mountains near Telluride
The plane was carrying 2 men when it crashed in the San Juan Mountains, officials say
By Celia Frazier
Officials believe two men died when their single-engine plane crashed in a remote area of the San Juan Mountains near Telluride on Thursday. 
Search and rescue teams responded to the crash Thursday afternoon after a citizen reported seeing smoke on the north side of Dolores Peak, about 15 miles southwest of Telluride, the San Miguel County Sheriff’s Office wrote in a Facebook post. Around the same time, Denver Air Traffic Control reported a Cessna 206 single-engine plane missing to San Miguel County dispatchers.
As of about 10:40 p.m., crews at the scene had determined there were no survivors in the crash. Search and rescue teams planned to return to the area Friday to recover the men’s bodies.
Additional information, including why the plane crashed and identifying information for the two men on board, was not yet available.
The National Transportation and Safety Board will investigate the crash.
This is a developing story and may be updated.
No survivors in single-engine plane crash in mountains near Telluride
NTSB Final Report: Raytheon Aircraft Company C90A
Pilot’s Incapacitation By An In-Flight Cardiac Event That Led To Cardiac Arrest
Location: Bakersfield, California Accident Number: WPR25LA003
Date & Time: October 4, 2024, 13:40 Local Registration: N6077X
Aircraft: Raytheon Aircraft Company C90A Aircraft Damage: None
Defining Event: Medical event Injuries: 1 Fatal, 1 None
Flight Conducted Under: Part 91: General aviation - Personal
Analysis: While enroute at cruise altitude during a personal cross-country flight, the pilot lost consciousness. The passenger contacted air traffic control, who provided assistance with navigation and airplane operation, and successfully landed the airplane at a nearby airport. According to the pilot’s autopsy report, his cause of death was hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, and his manner of death was natural. The autopsy identified an enlarged heart. All four chambers of the heart were described as severely dilated. Moderate coronary artery disease was present. There was old scar tissue of the left cardiac ventricle, consistent with a past heart attack. The only identified traumatic injuries were sternum and rib fractures following emergency life-saving cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) efforts. Based upon circumstances of the event and the pilot’s significant heart disease identified during the autopsy, it is likely that the pilot suffered an in-flight cardiac event, which resulted in his incapacitation and subsequent cardiac arrest.
Probable Cause and Findings: The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be -- The pilot’s incapacitation by an in-flight cardiac event that led to cardiac arrest.
FMI: www.ntsb.gov
Today in History
55 Years ago today: On 4 September 1971 Alaska Airlines flight 1866, a Boeing 727, impacted a mountain while on approach to Juneau Airport, Alaska, USA, killing all 111 occupants.
| Date: | Saturday 4 September 1971 |
| Time: | 12:15 |
| Type: | Boeing 727-193 |
| Owner/operator: | Alaska Airlines |
| Registration: | N2969G |
| MSN: | 19304/287 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1966 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 11344 hours |
| Engine model: | P&W JT8D-7B |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 111 / Occupants: 111 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed, written off |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | 35 km W of Juneau, AK - United States of America |
| Phase: | Approach |
| Nature: | Passenger - Scheduled |
| Departure airport: | Yakutat Airport, AK (YAK/PAYA) |
| Destination airport: | Juneau International Airport, AK (JNU/PAJN) |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: | Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Narrative:
Alaska Airlines flight 1866, a Boeing 727, impacted a mountain while on approach to Juneau Airport, Alaska, USA, killing all 111 occupants.
Flight AS1866 was a scheduled passenger flight from Anchorage (ANC), to Seattle (SEA), with intermediate stops at Cordova (CDV), Yakutat (YAK), Juneau (JNU), and Sitka (SIT). The IFR flight departed Anchorage at 09:13 and landed at Cordova at 09:42. AS66 departed Cordova at 10:34 after a delay, part of which was attributable to difficulty in securing a cargo compartment door. The flight landed at Yakutat at 11:07. While on the ground, AS66 received an air traffic control clearance to the Juneau Airport via Jet Route 507 to the Pleasant Intersection, direct to Juneau, to maintain 9,000 feet or below until 15 miles southeast of Yakutat on course, then to climb to and maintain FL230. The flight departed Yakutat at 11:35, with 104 passengers and seven crew members on board.
At 11:46, AS66 contacted the Anchorage ARTCC and reported level at FL230, 65 miles east of Yakutat. The flight was then cleared to descend at the pilot's discretion to maintain 10,000 ft so as to cross the Pleasant Intersection at 10,000 feet and was issued a clearance limit to the Howard Intersection.
The clearance was acknowledged correctly by the captain and the controller provided the Juneau altimeter setting of 29.46 inches and requested AS66 to report leaving 11,000 ft. At 11:51, AS66 reported leaving FL230. Following this report, the flight's clearance limit was changed to the Pleasant Intersection. At 11:54, the controller instructed AS66 to maintain 12,000 feet. Approximately 1 minute later, the flight reported level at 12,000 feet. The changes to the flight's original clearance to the Howard Intersection were explained to AS66 by the controller as follows: "I've got an airplane that's not following his clearance, I've got to find out where he is." The controller was referring to N799Y, a Piper Apache which had departed Juneau at 11:44 on an IFR clearance, destination Whitehorse, Canada.
On two separate occasions, AS66 acted as communications relay between the controller and N799Y.
At 11:58, AS66 reported that they were at the Pleasant Intersection, entering the holding pattern, whereupon the controller recleared the flight to Howard Intersection via the Juneau localizer. In response to the controller's query as to whether the flight was "on top" at 12,000 feet, the captain stated that the flight was "on instruments." At 12:00, the controller repeated the flight's clearance to hold at Howard Intersection and issued an expected approach time of 12:10. At 12:01, AS66 reported that they were at Howard, holding 12,000 feet. Six minutes later, AS66 was queried with respect to the flight's direction of holding and its position in the holding pattern. When the controller was advised that the flight had just completed its inbound turn and was on the localizer, inbound to Howard, he cleared AS66 for a straight-in LDA approach, to cross Howard at or below 9,000 feet inbound. The captain acknowledged the clearance and reported leaving 12,000 feet. At 12:08 the captain reported "leaving five thousand five ... four thousand five hundred," whereupon the controller instructed AS66 to contact Juneau Tower. Contact with the tower was established shortly thereafter when the captain reported, "Alaska sixty-six Barlow inbound." (Barlow Intersection is located about 10 nautical miles west of the Juneau Airport). The Juneau Tower Controller responded, "Alaska 66, understand, ah, I didn't, ah, copy the intersection, landing runway 08, the wind 080° at 22 occasional gusts to 28, the altimeter now 29.47, time is 09 1/2, call us by Barlow". No further communication was heard from the flight.
The Boeing 727 impacted the easterly slope of a canyon in the Chilkat Range of the Tongass National Forest at the 2475-foot level. The aircraft disintegrated on impact.
PROBABLE CAUSE: PROBABLE CAUSE: "A display of misleading navigational information concerning the flight's progress along the localizer course which resulted in a premature descent below obstacle clearance altitude. The origin or nature of the misleading navigational information could not be determined. The Board further concludes that the crew did not use all available navigational aids to check the flight's progress along the localizer nor were these aids required to be used. The crew also did not perform the required audio identification of the pertinent navigational facilities."
