LAS VEGAS - Federal officials were investigating the crash of a single-engine Cessna that landed near a busy intersection after it lost power just minutes from McCarran International Airport.
The pilot, Jed Schmieg, a 20-year-old Colorado college student, clipped power lines, cutting electricity to about 1,500 Nevada Power customers, before his plane plunged to the asphalt Friday evening, officials said.
The Cessna 182 avoided cars traveling the busy intersection and came to rest just feet from a newly opened gas station. The pilot and his two passengers escaped with no injuries worse than a sore back.
No one on the ground was injured.
The three men were traveling from Boulder, Colo., to meet friends in Las Vegas.
Emergency personnel and onlookers said they were stunned that the 8:50 p.m. accident did not have fatal results.
''I don't know how they avoided hitting anyone,'' said Clark County Fire Department spokesman Steve La-Sky.
The pilot and passengers apparently discussed attempting to land the plane at a nearby golf course and parking lot but decided they had insufficient power to do so.
