Two small single-engine planes were involved in a crash midair Wednesday morning at an Arizona airport, officials said.
Federal Aviation Administration reported that a Lancair 360 MK II and a
Cessna 172S collided at Marana Regional Airport, an uncontrolled field with
no operating air traffic control tower, just before 8:30 a.m. local time.
The airport also serves as a flight training ground.
The number of non-towered airports in the States is around 20,000.
Pilots operating in such airports announce their position to other pilots using a Common Traffic Advisory Frequency.
As police hurried to the scene, one of the aircrafts seemed intact.
According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the single-engine planes got involved in the crash while “upwind of runway 12,” one of the small Arizona regional airport’s two runways.
The Cessna did not successfully land and the Lancair “impacted terrain near runway 3 and a post-impact fire ensued.”
Each plane was carrying two passengers.
The crash claimed the lives of two people who were in the same plane.
In statement, Marana Regional Airport Superintendent Galen Beem said, “On behalf of the Town of Marana and the Marana Regional Airport, our hearts go out to all the individuals and families impacted by this event. This is an unprecedented event, and we are grateful for the swift response from the Marana Police Department and Northwest Fire District.”
Unfortunately, this crash is another in the series of plane crashes that happened in the past several weeks, including the horrific crash over Reagan International Airport last month that claimed the lives of 67 people when an American Airlines plane collided mid-air with a Black Hawk US Army helicopter.
Another crash, involving a medical jet, claimed the lives of the passengers on board, including that of a young girl returning to Mexico from Philadelphia where she had undergone a life-saving surgery.
Days prior to the Arizona airport accident, a plane flipped upside down while landing in Toronto. Miraculously, there were no victims in the flipped plane.
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