Plane crashes in Gallup
Pilot, passenger escape injury

A single-engine 1966 Champion fixed wing aircraft sits upside near the runway of the Gallup Airport on Sunday morning. The aircraft, registered to Brown Consulting and Sales Inc. from Farmington, Utah, crashed shortly after 6 Saturday evening. [Photo by Jeff Jones/Independent]

By Leslie Wood
Staff writer

GALLUP — A single-engine airplane crashed during a “hard landing” at the Gallup Municipal Airport Friday.

The airplane’s occupants were not harmed in the crash at about 6:30 p.m., Deputy Chief John Allen of the Gallup Police Department said.

The plane’s pilot, Cheek Burgess, 69, was flying into the airport when he “touched down hard” on the runway and lost control of the aircraft. The airplane subsequently flipped and skidded off the roadway, Allen said.

Gallup police and firefighters responded to the scene, but no major injuries were reported. Burgess was accompanied by 63-year-old Allen Harmon at the time of the crash. Both men were traveling from Idaho and were headed for an unknown destination in the East.

The pair stayed the night at a local hotel and left the area Saturday.

The crash was attributed to pilot error, officials said.