Prescott Valley woman killed in Kingman-area plane crash

PV man transported to hospital with serious injuries

A Prescott Valley woman was killed and a Prescott Valley man was critically injured when a small plane crashed Sunday, Jan. 13, near Kingman.

The two occupants of the aircraft were identified as Heidi Sue Dowland, 38, and Christopher Adam Anderson, 43, according to a news release put out Monday, Jan. 14, by the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO).

Dowland was declared dead at the scene of the crash, which occurred at about 11:45 a.m. Sunday near the Mohave County Parks Ranger Station in the Hualapai Mountains. Anderson, who was found alive shortly after the crash, was taken to Kingman Regional Medical Center and later transported to a Las Vegas hospital.

“Most recently, we heard [Anderson] was in critical condition,” MCSO spokesperson Anita Mortensen said Monday afternoon.

Mortensen was told that the aircraft had last taken off from the Kingman Municipal Airport.

“Where they were going to or where they were coming from, I really have no idea, but that’s how they ended up in the Hualapai Mountains, because they had just left the Kingman airport,” she said.

Kingman Municipal Airport’s Manager Steve Johnston said the airport neither keeps record of who comes and goes from the airport, nor has a control tower where radio transmissions are fielded.

Given the aircraft’s location, if the pilot made any sort of radio call for help it likely would have been on the civilian aircraft emergency frequency 121.5, Johnston said. When making that call, the hope is that a corporate pilot or commercial airline would hear the mayday and pass it on to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Doug Whitney, Prescott Municipal Airport’s Operations Director, said there was no direct indication as of Monday evening that the aircraft originated out of Prescott despite the two occupants living in Prescott Valley.

“We’ve been trying to figure that out ourselves,” Whitney said. “If I had a tail number that would really help a lot.” Neither the MCSO nor the Kingman Municipal Airport could provide the tail number of the aircraft.

The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board are currently investigating the cause of the crash. Such investigations are known to take up to a year to complete.

“Particularly when there’s a fatality involved, they want to make sure that they get it absolutely right for the family,” Whitney said.

“A year would probably be a good estimate for a fatal crash like that.”

Attempts by The Daily Courier to reach friends and family of Dowland’s were unsuccessful Monday. On her Facebook page, however, she described herself:

“I’m a mother, an aunt, a daughter, a sister, a cousin, a friend, & I love every second of it!”

Follow Max Efrein on Twitter @mefrein, email him at mefrein@prescottaz.com or call him at 928-445-3333 ext. 1105.