One still hospitalized after single-engine plane crash near Cheney Saturday

One man is still in the hospital after a small single-engine airplane crashed near Cheney on Saturday morning.

The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, who declined to release the occupant’s names or positions in the craft, said a 42-year-old man was in satisfactory condition Monday afternoon. A second occupant, a 70-year-old male, was treated and released. Both are from the Spokane area.

Witnesses said the plane appeared to be attempting a landing on a nearby runway in the vicinity of the Homeport Airport, which is east of Cheney, when it crashed beyond the runway, hitting a stand of trees and coming to a rest on its side.

A representative of the National Transportation Safety Board said that, as of Monday morning, the organization was not investigating the crash because it didn’t result in serious injuries and the main fuselage and cockpit were not seriously damaged.

A spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration was not immediately available for comment Monday.