|
Source
6 feared dead in Arizona plane crash The aircraft with three young children aboard goes down in mountains east of Phoenix. By Stephen Ceasar and Ashley Powers, Los Angeles Times November 23, 2011, 10:29 p.m. Six people on a Thanksgiving trip, including three young children, were feared dead when a twin-engine aircraft crashed into the Superstition Mountains east of Phoenix on Wednesday evening, authorities said. The plane had traveled from Safford, Ariz., to Mesa, Ariz., about 150 miles away, to pick up three young children and bring them back for Thanksgiving, Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu said at a news conference. A pilot, a mechanic and another adult also were aboard, he said. [ Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu is a police state thug who is challenging Maricopa Count Sheriff Joe Arpaio for the bragging rights as the means and baddest Sheriff in the USA, for that matter the world. If you folks want to live in a police state Arizona is the place to go. ] The private twin-engine Rockwell AC-69 took off from Falcon Field in Mesa and crashed about 5 p.m., he said. The crash site near Flatiron peak is about 40 miles east of downtown Phoenix. A witness identified as Lou Adams told KNXV-TV in Phoenix that he was camping in the mountains when he heard a loud noise, then saw a "fireball and a couple of pieces disappear behind the mountain. I could definitely see it fell out of the sky." Rescue crews struggled to reach the crash site in the Superstition Mountains, uneven terrain with jagged peaks and deep crevices. The plane slammed into a mountainside in an area so remote that deputies had to be airlifted to it in pairs. They found two debris fields with still-smoldering wreckage wedged into crevices, Babeu said. The plane had refueled in Mesa, which probably helped fan the large, post-crash fireball that residents spotted from the valley floor. It remained unclear whether anyone aboard had survived. But considering the condition of the accident site — where fires still burn — "it does not look promising," Babeu said. The plane was registered to Ponderosa Aviation Inc. of Safford, according to Federal Aviation Administration records. Officials said investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board would arrive Thursday morning to take over the investigation. The mountainous region near Lost Dutchman State Park and the Superstition wilderness features steep canyons and popular hiking trails. It is a favorite of treasure hunters who have frequented the area in search of the fabled Lost Dutchman gold mine for more than a century. Stephen.ceasar@latimes.com Ashley.powers@latimes.com
6 killed in Arizona plane crash By Jim Walsh and Jordee Kalk, The Arizona Republic PHOENIX -- A small plane crashed into mountain near Phoenix on Wednesday evening, killing six people, authorities said. By Michael Schennum, The Arizona Republic Elias Johnson, a spokesman for the Pinal County Sheriff's Office, said a tire found at the scene in the Superstition Mountains east of Apache Junction was consistent with a twin-engine aircraft. Emergency crews were struggling through rugged terrain to reach the crash site. Johnson said it appeared the plane had disintegrated. Allen Kinitzer of the Federal Aviation Administration confirmed that the plane was a twin-engine Rockwell AC69 that had just departed Mesa's Falcon Field. The plane was registered to Ponderosa Aviation Inc. of Safford. Ponderosa declined comment Wednesday night, saying it was not yet prepared to discuss the incident. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash, Kinitzer said. Witnesses reported a fiery mushroom cloud when the plane flew into the side of the mountains. Carla Machajewski of Apache Junction, who lives at the base of the Superstitions, said she saw two small planes flying around the mountains. "The one little plane kept going straight and the other one turned and came back and disappeared for a minute. All of a sudden, it hit."
Plane crashes into Superstition Mountains Tim Hacker Posted: Wednesday, November 23, 2011 8:08 pm Staff and wire reports A twin engine aircraft taking several people, including three children, out of town for Thanksgiving crashed into the Superstition Mountains Wednesday night, according to Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu. During a news conference, Babeu said 10 personnel from his office were at the scene. No one from the plane had been located yet as of 9:45 p.m. in the rugged terrain. He said there could have been six people on board. [ Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu is a police state thug who is challenging Maricopa Count Sheriff Joe Arpaio for the bragging rights as the means and baddest Sheriff in the USA, for that matter the world. If you folks want to live in a police state Arizona is the place to go. ] "It does not look promising," he said. The search was expected to continue through the night, with assistance from other public safety agencies. Babeu said his office was told the plane had flown to Mesa's Falcon Field Airport from Safford, Ariz., to refuel, and at that time, "three small children" boarded the plane. The plane was not a large commercial aircraft but could hold up to eight people, he said. Rescue crews who arrived by helicopter reported finding 24-inch tires at the crash site, which would indicate a small twin-engine plane, Pinal County sheriff's spokeswoman Angelique Graham said. "We can't tell the size of the aircraft involved from the air and we can't tell how many people may have been aboard," she said. More rescuers were struggling to reach the crash site in a mountainous area about 40 miles east of downtown Phoenix so they could search for survivors. Graham said 911 calls began coming in around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday from people who heard an explosion near the Flat Iron area close to Lost Dutchman State Park. "People said it sounded like fireworks going off," Graham said. Some witnesses told Phoenix-area television stations they heard a plane trying to rev its engines to climb higher before apparently hitting the mountains. The elevation is about 5,000 feet at the Superstition Mountains' highest point. Video showed several fires burning on the mountainside, where heavy brush is common. The region near Lost Dutchman State Park and the Superstition Wilderness is filled with steep canyons, soaring rocky outcroppings and cactus. Treasure hunters who frequent the area have been looking for the legendary Lost Dutchman mine for more than a century.
Arizona plane crash in Superstition Mountains; several fatalities by Jim Walsh and Jordee Kalk - Nov. 23, 2011 10:34 PM The Arizona Republic-12 News Breaking News Team A small plane crashed in the Superstition Mountains east of Apache Junction on Wednesday evening, killing several people, including at least one child, Pinal County authorities reported. Emergency crews had to struggle through rugged terrain to reach the crash site, which appeared be in the peaks' Flat Iron area. At a press briefing about 9:45 p.m., Sheriff Paul Babeu said it was believed that three adults and three children were on board the plane. The children reportedly ranged in age from 5 to 9. [ Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu is a police state thug who is challenging Maricopa Count Sheriff Joe Arpaoi for the bragging rights as the means and baddest Sheriff in the USA, for that matter the world. If you folks want to live in a police state Arizona is the place to go. ] "From what we understand, that plane flew from Safford to Mesa to pick up children and return to Safford," he said, adding that the adults appeared to be the pilot, a mechanic and a third person. "Our priority is to search for possible survivors," Babeu said, but when asked about the likelihood of anyone making it out of the crash alive, he replied, "It does not look promising." Shortly afterward, sheriff's spokesman Elias Johnson said that one child's body had been recovered. Johnson said that rescue personnel were using infrared devices, but had been unable to detect any sign of movement. He said it was unlikely that anyone had survived, and that the mission would probably soon be one of recovery rather than rescue. Babeu said the plane's fuselage was still burning, wedged nose-down between rocks. Ten personnel were working the scene, he said. The terrain was so rough and steep that they had to be flown in by a DPS helicopter, two by two, dropped on top of the mountains, and then hiked down to the crash site. Babeu added that because of the rocky terrain, there was very little risk of the fire spreading. Noting that the tragedy had occurred on the eve of Thanksgiving, Babeu said, "I'd like our thoughts and prayers to be with the family." Allen Kinitzer of the Federal Aviation Administration confirmed that the plane was a twin-engine Rockwell AC69 that had just departed Mesa's Falcon Field. The plane was registered to Ponderosa Aviation Inc. of Safford. Ponderosa declined comment Wednesday night, saying it was not yet prepared to discuss the incident. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash, Kinitzer said. Babeu said his office received multiple reports of a plane crash and fire around 6:30 p.m. Witnesses reported a fiery mushroom cloud when the plane flew into the side of the mountains. Carla Machajewski of Apache Junction, who lives at the base of the Superstitions, said she saw two small planes flying around the mountains. "The one little plane kept going straight and the other one turned and came back and disappeared for a minute. All of a sudden, it hit."
If you ask me this sounds like a jobs program for these overpaid cops. Why on earth do they need to fly to an area on a remote mountain top in the middle of the stinking desert and secure it? Are they afraid some rattlesnakes and jackrabbits will steal the bodies? Or that the plane parts will magically come alive and walk off? I suspect the real jobs program for unneeded government nannies will start when the NTSB goons come and cart the entire plane out of the desert trying to figure out what went wrong and why the plane crashed. Figuring out what went wrong is so important let the owner of the plane pay for the work of hauling the plane out and analyzing what happened. The taxpayers certainly don't need to be stuck with the bill. Arizona plane crash: Crews begin recovery efforts by Michelle Ye Hee Lee, Jim Walsh and Jordee Kalk - Nov. 24, 2011 09:23 AM The Arizona Republic A small plane crashed in the Superstition Mountains east of Apache Junction on Wednesday evening, likely killing all passengers on board, including a pilot father and his three children traveling for Thanksgiving, Pinal County authorities reported. Two boys and one girl ages 5 to 9 were on board the plane with a mechanic and two pilots - one of them, the father of the children, authorities confirmed Thursday morning. The names of those on the plane were being withheld early Thursday morning pending notifications to immediate family. Some of the family members are out of the country for the holidays, Pinal County Sheriff's Office spokesman Elias Johnson said. Johnson said the names could be released by 1 p.m. Thursday. The children's mother, a Pinal County resident, was notified Wednesday night. She is a pilot herself, Johnson said. Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu "let her know that it looks like the children passed away," Johnson said. One child's body was recovered Wednesday night. Authorities could not specify the child's gender. Deputies are "not hopeful" they will find any survivors, Babeu said. The Rockwell AC69 twin engine plane departed Falcon Field in Mesa at 6:15 p.m. Wednesday. An explosion at the southwest portion of Superstition Mountains was reported at 6:31 p.m., Babeu said. The father and three children were traveling to Safford, Ariz., for Thanksgiving, Johnson said. What began as a rescue mission Wednesday night is now a recovery operation, Johnson said. Deputies are flying to the site Thursday morning, and have started repelling into the remote area of the Superstition Mountains, Johnson said. Officials from the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are expected to arrive on site late Thursday morning or early afternoon, Babeu said. NTSB officials will take over the investigation once they arrive, Johnson said. Pinal County Sheriff's Office officials plan to finish the recovery operation by 4 p.m., when weather conditions are likely to bring high winds to the area, Johnson said. Wednesday night, emergency crews had struggled through rugged terrain to reach the crash site, which appeared be in the peaks' Flat Iron area. Because the area was too treacherous for deputies to search for bodies, they camped there overnight to secure the area, he said. Recovery crews were scheduled to search the area on the ground and from the air, Babeu said. Rescue personnel had used infrared devices Wednesday night, but were unable to detect any sign of movement, Johnson said. Babeu asked residents living or planning to hike in the area to stay away from the scene of the crash. "From what we understand, that plane flew from Safford to Mesa to pick up children and return to Safford," Babeu said. An estimation that the plane was flying at 200 mph when it crashed, along with witness accounts of a large explosion, initially led investigators to believe the crash involved a large plane or jetliner, Babeu said. [ That was probably wishful thinking on the part of the cops. Cops always tend to make mountains out of molehills. How else will they convince us that they are needed. ] Ten personnel were working the scene, he said. The terrain was so rough and steep that they had to be flown in by a DPS helicopter, two by two, dropped on top of the mountains, and then hiked down to the crash site. FAA's Allen Kinitzer confirmed that the plane was a twin-engine Rockwell AC69 that had just departed Mesa's Falcon Field. The plane was registered to Ponderosa Aviation Inc. of Safford. Ponderosa declined comment Wednesday night, saying it was not yet prepared to discuss the incident. The FAA and the NTSB are investigating the crash, Kinitzer said. Witnesses reported a fiery mushroom cloud when the plane flew into the side of the mountains. Carla Machajewski of Apache Junction, who lives at the base of the Superstitions, said she saw two small planes flying around the mountains. "The one little plane kept going straight and the other one turned and came back and disappeared for a minute. All of a sudden, it hit."
Holiday flight became tragedy in Arizona's Superstition Mountains by Michelle Ye Hee Lee - Nov. 25, 2011 12:00 AM The Arizona Republic Shawn Perry, a 39-year-old pilot and father, had planned to drive from Safford to Apache Junction to pick up his three children. Russel Hardy, Perry's boss at a Safford-based aviation company, suggested a different plan, according to a relative -- it would be faster and easier to fly. Joseph Hardwick, 22, another employee, was engaged to be married next month. A mechanic, he didn't normally fly as a crew member. But this time, he was aboard. The group flew to Mesa's Falcon Field and picked up the children: Morgan, 9, Logan, 8, and Luke, 6. Then the plane took off again, headed back for Thanksgiving. But the six aboard never made it home to Safford. About 15 minutes after departing Wednesday evening, the twin-engine plane crashed into the side of the Superstition Mountains, sparking a fireball visible for miles and killing all six on board. Throughout the day Thursday, emergency crews worked to reach the wreckage, which was strewn along the base of a sheer cliff in a rugged area of the mountains. Crews rappelled to reach the plane's remnants but found no survivors and quickly determined that the operation would focus on recovery instead of rescue. Federal officials were still en route to the site Thursday afternoon. Once there, investigators would begin piecing together what took place just after sunset Wednesday on a flight that would leave Hardy, an experienced pilot, and the other passengers on the Rockwell twin-engine plane in such peril. The children Friends and acquaintances of the children's mother, Karen Perry of Apache Junction, expressed grief and sympathy for a selfless woman who has experienced a series of struggles in recent years. Morgan, the oldest, was diagnosed with epilepsy, undergoing multiple brain surgeries. Luke, the youngest, had autism. "She just had some tragedies throughout her life, and some struggles," said Chandler resident Nicole Werner Hamming, who has known the mother for about 20 years through a mutual friend. Mark Blomgren, principal at Peralta Trail Elementary in Apache Junction, said Logan and Morgan were in the school through the end of last year before they transferred schools. Blomgren said the district's superintendent called him Thursday morning to share the news, and Blomgren immediately contacted teachers who had Logan and Morgan in their classes. "They were just great kids," Blomgren said. "All the teachers were naturally shocked. They cared about them and wondered how their mom was doing and they were just hit pretty hard. Logan and Morgan were just special kids that the teachers really bonded with." Karen and Shawn Perry entered divorce proceedings in Pinal County in 2009, according to public records. The crew Late Wednesday, LeeVon Motes, Hardy's cousin, described the story of how the men decided to take the flight. Joseph Hardwick, the young mechanic, did not usually board a flight himself. But he did on Wednesday, likely just "tagging along" on a "nice trip on Thanksgiving Eve," said Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, whose emergency crews mounted the search effort. Coincidentally, the picture that sheriff's deputies used to identify the remains of Hardwick, youngest of seven children, was one taken at the Superstition Mountains while he was on a hiking trip. "These people were really close and they were all family, even though they were not all related," Babeu said. Hardy, 31, was the co-owner of Safford-based Ponderosa Aviation Inc., which owned the plane. Hardy is survived by his wife, Joanna, and 3-year-old son Caden. Acquaintances and those familiar with the Safford aviation community described the company as a "big family affair" run by a tight-knit family. On its website, the company touted decades of safe flying. Allen Kenitzer of the Federal Aviation Administration said the plane that crashed was a Rockwell Aero Commander. The company has contracts to provide firefighting services, said Ryan Owens, a pilot who owns a similar aviation-operating company based in Mesa. Owens said he and his business partner had researched Ponderosa Aviation because they were planning to purchase a business at the Safford Regional Airport. "Mountain flying always has its difficulties, but these guys have operated with search, rescue and firefighting. To my knowledge, that's what they've done in the past. They would be very comfortable in that situation (of the crash)," Owens said. The crash The cause of the crash had not been identified by Thursday afternoon, pending a federal investigation, Babeu said. The accident happened "just at the crest of this mountain, almost as if it would make it over," Babeu said. Experienced pilots who have flown over the Superstition Mountains were perplexed by the crash. The area is not particularly difficult to fly over, they said. And even if both engines gave out, the aircraft would have been able to turn around and return to the airport by gliding, Owens said. "What none of us know yet is why he (Hardy) would be that low in the area. The airplane performs so well, and he kept them maintained so well, that it's hard to understand why he would've let himself get that low in that area," said Howard Jenkins, a Graham County resident who has flown airplanes for 35 years. Jenkins said Hardy was a "very dedicated man, hard worker," and a "very experienced pilot." The plane departed from Falcon Field at 6:15 p.m. Wednesday. An explosion at the southwest portion of the Superstition Mountains was reported at 6:31 p.m., Babeu said. The crash site was near the peaks' Flat Iron area, he said. Sheriff's deputies camped at the crash site overnight because the area, surrounded by rugged terrain, was too treacherous for deputies to search for bodies overnight, Babeu said. Babeu estimated the plane was traveling at about 200 mph at the point of collision. The speed, combined with reports of a fiery explosion and the amount of debris on the scene, led officials to believe all of the passengers were dead, Babeu said. Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA were expected later Thursday, Babeu said. NTSB investigators issue a preliminary report within several days of an accident; a final report could take several months. Pinal County's first responders knew they were looking at a tragedy as soon as they arrived on the scene Wednesday, Babeu said. "No one could survive that crash," Babeu said. "All of these families are just obviously heartbroken, traumatized over the loss of their loved ones so suddenly and on Thanksgiving." How to help Members of the public looking to help with funeral expenses can donate to the Perry family through a funeral fund at the Gold Canyon Bank, at 6641 S. Kings Ranch Road, No. 2, Gold Canyon, AZ 85118. |