Newport mayor crash-lands plane on beach; 3 hurt

NEWPORT, Ore. (AP) — The mayor of Newport, who crash-landed his small plane on the beach after it had engine trouble Monday evening, said Tuesday he is recuperating at home from torn cartilage in his chest, and asked for prayers for one of his passengers who was seriously injured.

Mayor Dean Sawyer, 66, said on Facebook that he and his two passengers were returning from whale-watching in his Cessna 172 Skyhawk II on Monday when the engine trouble started.

Sawyer said a third passenger, a 7-year-old boy whom Sawyer identified as his other passenger’s grandson, was unhurt. Oregon State Police identified the injured female passenger as Deborah Reasoner, 61, from Molalla.

Sawyer said on Tuesday that Reasoner, who was flown to a hospital in Portland, is doing better.