Nye County Emergency Management Director Scott Lewis noted that the crash was a non-survivable event.

Despite very challenging conditions on Tuesday, Jan. 27, recovery crews managed to retrieve the wreckage of a small plane that reportedly crashed in the wilderness of Mount Jefferson, roughly 70 miles northeast of Tonopah.

Nye County Sheriff Joe McGill told the Pahrump Valley Times that on Jan. 2, the experienced pilot, Michael Martin, 65, of Las Vegas, departed from the North Las Vegas Airport for a “routine flight” but eventually lost contact with ground controllers.

Following an extensive search, the wreckage of the plane was eventually located Saturday, Jan. 18, perched atop the mountain at an elevation of 11,300 feet by a Nevada Department of Wildlife game warden.

The recovery

McGill, meanwhile, said the roughly four-hour recovery effort was carried out by Heavy D Sparks Recovery, based in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The operation was coordinated by several different agencies.

“I didn’t go up to the top of the mountain, but the aircraft was brought down to us and it was completely destroyed,” he said. “The company who recovered the plane reached out to the family and offered their services to do this, so they flew up there and made the recovery. They wrapped everything in tarps and straps to secure it all together, hoisted it off the mountain, and transported it down to us.”

Treacherous conditions

Additionally, McGill said that during the recovery effort, the weather conditions in the area at the time were less than ideal.

“It was very cold and the wind got a little challenging a few times,” he said. “There was snow on the ground, maybe waist deep so it definitely required some special skills and equipment. This was far from your normal search and rescue operation because of the fact that it was so far away from anything due to the elevation. There was no vegetation and obviously it gets very, very cold.”

McGill noted that in addition to Southern Nevada first responders, several other state and federal agencies devoted resources to the recovery effort and investigation, including the FAA, the Nevada National Guard and the NTSB. Private individuals also reached out and offered assistance.

The recovered remains are scheduled to undergo an autopsy in Clark County, according to McGill.

Contact reporter sharris@pvtimes.com