Authorities respond to plane crash near Las Cruces

LAS CRUCES - Authorities said a plane was engulfed in flames after it crashed into a remote area near the Las Cruces International Airport.

New Mexico State Police spokesman Carl Christiansen said authorities responded to the crash about three miles north of the airport about 8:30 p.m. Thursday.

"It crashed into rough terrain in a canyon," Christiansen said. He said officials arrived by ATV. "When they got out there, the aircraft was completely engulfed."

He said it was a fixed-wing aircraft, but few other details were available. He said officials were still trying to determine what kind of plane, its flight path and how many passengers, if any, were on board.

State Police have secured the scene, he said, and officials from the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration have been notified.

"We probably won't have anything more until the morning," Christiansen said.

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There have been three fatal crashes at the Las Cruces airport in the last four years.

• In August 2014, a Cessna 421C crashed just after takeoff. Killed were the pilot, 29-year-old Freddy Martinez of El Paso, Fredrick Green, 59, a Las Cruces man being transported for cancer treatment; flight paramedic Tauren Summers, 27, of El Paso; and flight nurse Monica Chavez, 35, of Las Cruces.
• In November 2014, Tyler Francis, 29, the pilot and only occupant of a home-built Ross Vans Aircraft RV-3, was pronounced dead at the scene of a crash near the airport. Francis owned Francis Aviation.
• In August 2015, David Tokoph, 64, died from injuries sustained in a plane crash at the Las Cruces airport. Tokoph lived in El Paso and held an international flight speed record.