This part of Nevada is a rumored hot spot for plane crashes. Here’s why

A vast triangle-shaped region north of Las Vegas over the last six decades has developed a reputation as a hot spot for plane disappearances by conspiracy theorists and aviation enthusiasts.

Some 2,000 planes over the last 60 years have disappeared in the so-called Nevada Triangle, a 25,000-square-mile region spanning from Reno to Las Vegas and west to Fresno, California over the Sierra Nevada, according to Plane and Pilot magazine.

Aviation experts say the “mystery” of the Nevada Triangle really is no mystery at all — if you understand the wind.

“There’s no magic involved, there’s no mysterious this or that, and there’s no big monster out there that’s going to get everybody” said Paul Hamilton, a Carson City-based pilot and flight instructor who has flown for more than 40 years.

Hamilton and Dan Bubb, a professor at UNLV and aviation historian, said they believe the “2,000” missing planes figure is likely inflated.

“Two thousand crashes seems awfully high to me; that’s a hard number to know,” Bubb said.

Blame the mountains

Bubb said the Sierra Nevada, like other mountains, can create unpredictable flying conditions due by generating their own weather and stirring up dangerous winds, including strong updrafts and downdrafts.

“(Mountain flying is) a different type of flying, and it can be a very dangerous one if you don’t know what you’re doing,” Bubb said. “Things can seem really, really calm, but when you get close to a mountainside, the air might be very turbulent.”

One of the triangle’s most notable deaths was the disappearance of aviator Steve Fossett, who took off on Sept. 3, 2007, from Flying M Ranch airfield south of Reno and never returned.

Remnants of Fossett’s plane and his skeletal remains were found weeks later scattered across a 400-foot-long area in the mountains near Mammoth Lakes, California, New York Times Magazine reported in 2008.

A two year investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board determined that Fossett’s plane crash was caused by mountain downdrafts, according to a New York Times report.

Dated technology creates challenges

Older aircraft’s limited radar technology once made pinpointing missing planes in the rugged and sparsely populated region particularly difficult decades ago, but technology has, particularly in the last 10 years, evolved drastically to make recovering aircraft much easier, Hamilton said.

Tools including emergency locator transmitters that can relay via satellite where a plane has crashed and more sophisticated radar technology have made it easier for officials to recover missing planes, he said.

A challenge officials faced when searching for Fossett was that they never received an electronic signal from his plane, requiring investigators to scour the mountains by helicopter and plane to find him.

“Now, if there’s a crash, they know exactly where you are,” Hamilton said.

Tips for flying safely

Bubb recommended that pilots planning to fly through the Sierra Nevada get a weather briefing, create a flight plan and report weather conditions to air traffic control while in the air.

Pilots should also stay in communication with air traffic control — especially around Harry Reid International, which is a Class B Airspace: a special designation given only airspace around the busiest airports in the United States, Bubb said.

Bubb added that pilots should never feel pressured to get to their destination, and drive or delay their flight instead of trying to push through dicey weather conditions.

“It’s what we call ‘get there-itis,’” Bubb said. “It’s always better to be safe.”

Contact Taylor Lane at tlane@reviewjournal.com.