(Source: Howard Waggner/News of Maricopa) The crash occurred off of 99th Avenue several miles south of SR 238.
(Source: Howard Waggner/News of Maricopa) The pilot was airlifted to a Phoenix-area hospital.GOODYEAR, AZ (CBS5) -
The pilot of a small plane has relatively minor injuries after the aircraft crashed in a rural area near Maricopa.
The single-engine plane went down at about 1 p.m. Sunday and it took more than an hour to find the aircraft, which went down in the desert in the southernmost part of Goodyear and just west of Maricopa, Maricopa County Sheriff's spokesman Officer Christopher Hegstrom said.
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer said Cessna 172 lost power shortly after taking off from the airport in Maricopa and crashed into the desert.
The pilot was airlifted to Maricopa Medical Center as a precaution. Hegstrom said he isn't sure if the pilot is a man or woman and had no information on why the plane went down.
The FAA and NTSB are investigating the accident. NTSB is the lead investigative agency.
Copyright 2012 CBS 5 (Meredith Corporation). All rights reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
