Pilot Keith Jorgenson was confirmed to have been killed in an airplane crash in the Pine Nut Mountains on Wednesday evening.Jorgenson, 46, was the lone occupant of a Cessna 172 that took off around 5 p.m. Wednesday, Sgt. Jim Halsey said.Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash, whose cause is unknown at this time, Halsey said.Search and rescue members spent Thursday calling surrounding airports and checking for emergency locator transmitter signals after Jorgenson, a Gardnerville man, was reported overdue from Minden-Tahoe Airport.“It is reported that Jorgenson had planned to return to the airport by dark, however he never returned,” Halsey said. “A check of surrounding airports in Carson City and Mono County revealed that Jorgenson did not land there either.”Washoe County's RAVEN helicopter spotted the wreckage in the Pine Nuts' Mineral Valley, southwest of Mount Como on Thursday afternoon.Douglas County Sheriff's Search & Rescue members, along with sheriff's investigators and a coroner, were on the ground at the site by late Thursday afternoon, according to Halsey.Jorgenson and his wife, Rhonda, purchased Flying Start Aero flight training school last year.Jorgenson has worked as an independent security contractor in Afghanistan, and enjoyed flying both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters.Additional information will be provided as it becomes available.
