Update: A news release from the Wyoming Highway Patrol says the pilot made an emergency landing by Wyoming Highway 370 when the plane experienced mechanical problems. The occupants of the plane were out counting and surveying wild horses for the Bureau of Land Management.

Three people were injured when a small airplane crashed near the Rock Spring-Sweetwater County Airport on Wednesday afternoon, according to a spokesman for the Wyoming Highway Patrol.

Sgt. Kyle McKay says troopers and other emergency responders were called to Wyoming Highway 370 a few miles east of Rock Springs around 3 p.m. Wednesday afternoon on a report of a small airplane crash. A small Cessna airplane was found on the scene, which is about two miles from the Rock Springs Airport. The plane was found sitting next to the highway.

McKay says there were four people on board the plane, and three were taken to Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County with what were believed to be relatively minor injuries.

The airport continued to operate normally during the incident. The crash is being investigated by federal transportation officials.

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