Three hurt when plane makes emergency landing outside Schriever AFB

Three people are injured after a private plane made an emergency landing near Schriever Air Force Base, authorities said.

At around 2 p.m. Saturday, officials announced that a plane had oil pressure issues and was forced to make an emergency landing near Highway 94 and Peyton Highway.

The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office said the private plane deployed its parachutes and landed on private property.

Steve Kitts, who lives near where the plane landing happened, says he was driving on the highway and he saw the plane make the emergency landing.

He says that’s when he rushed to the crash site.

“You know, we just tried to keep them down and helped them out anyway we could,” he said.

The pilot was transported to a hospital with minor injuries. The two passengers were transported by helicopter to a hospital. The extent of their injuries is unknown at this time.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board will be investigating the incident.

This is the second emergency landing this month. A Thunderbird pilot ejected himself from his plane and crash landed it in an open field near Peterson Air Force Base after the Air Force Academy graduation.

The Sheriff’s Office says the emergency landings are giving crews an opportunity to test our their skills in this type of situation.

“We have the opportunity to actually use the response plan that we have in place and take a look at it and learn how to make our response quicker and how we can change things to make our response more efficient,” El Paso County Sheriff’s Office Executive Assistant Natalie Sosa said.