Missing pilot’s plane found near Mount Jefferson, authorities say

After weeks of searching, the plane of a pilot who went missing earlier this month was found near Mount Jefferson on Saturday.

Authorities had not been able to get more than a couple of miles away from the scene as of Sunday afternoon, and the condition of pilot Michael Martin, who was the only person onboard, remains unknown.

Nye County Director of Emergency Management Scott Lewis was just returning from the scene Sunday afternoon when he spoke to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, and said that there was “significant damage” to the aircraft.

“We just need to get the resources and get them up there as quickly as we can. It was very windy during our search just now, very treacherous area, very steep area. We have a lot of things to overcome, but we’re working on it,” Lewis said.

The elevated position made the scene unreachable by foot, and Lewis said the team needed to wait for helicopters to reach the scene.

Martin, an experienced, licensed pilot, took off from North Las Vegas Airport the morning of Jan. 2 without telling anyone. His location last showed him as near Mount Jefferson, about 50 miles from Tonopah. His family reported the 65-year-old pilot missing on Jan. 5.

Authorities searched hundreds of square miles for Martin but suspended search and rescue efforts Thursday after finding no physical evidence, Lewis said.

Local resources were still looking in the area, and late Saturday, a game warden using special glasses found the plane, Lewis said. The search team had already looked in the area, but the snow previously covering it had melted.

Mystery departure

The circumstances of Martin’s disappearance remain unclear. The day he went missing, he told the owner of the company where he works that he’d be taking an early lunch but would return by 12:30 p.m. for an important meeting, according to his daughter-in-law Kathleen Martin.

Martin, an aerospace engineer, is employed as president of Erickson International, a window film manufacturer in Las Vegas, according to his family and LinkedIn page. Erickson operations employee Don Gist previously said the two had discussed working on a project together that afternoon.

Martin’s plane took off at 10:51 a.m., but his flight transponder stopped transmitting at 11:15 a.m. At 12:06 p.m., Martin’s daughter-in-law said, his phone last pinged near Tonopah, and at 12:26 p.m., his iPad — which he used as a navigation aid — and his Apple Watch last showed him near Mount Jefferson, about 50 miles from Tonopah.

She said his family initially believed he’d had a stressful holiday season and was taking a one- or two-day break in a local hotel, but they reported him missing the evening of Jan. 5 because they couldn’t get in touch with him.

Martin did not appear to have established a flight plan, according to Lewis,

Cathy Martin, his wife of 40 years, previously told the Review-Journal that Michael Martin had left without explanation years ago for one or two days.

“We had a little tiff Wednesday night, but it wasn’t a huge one,” she said. “I just asked him a question and we discussed it and it was done. He wasn’t upset.”

If he survived a crash, he had the skills to take care of himself in the wilderness, his wife said.

A missing person report released by police indicates Martin might have been upset and carried a handgun in his work bag the morning he left.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Contact Katie Futterman at kfutterman@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ktfutts on X and @katiefutterman.bsky.social. Review-Journal staff writer Noble Brigham contributed to this report.