E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSA small aircraft carrying six people, including three children, slammed into the rugged peaks of the Superstition Mountain in Arizona. All aboard are believed to be dead. NBC's Jeff Rossen has more details.
Updated at 12.51 p.m. ET
A small airplane with three men and three young children onboard slammed into a sheer cliff in the mile-high Superstition Mountains east of Phoenix while going around 200 mph, killing all aboard, the Pinal County sheriff said.
The body of one child was recovered and dozens of sheriff's search and rescue personnel worked Thursday to recover the remains of the other victims, said Sheriff Paul Babeu.
A search and rescue team was in the rugged mountains searching for three missing teenagers Wednesday evening and saw the explosion as the twin-engine plane hit the cliff, Babeu said. The searchers found the teens, then went up the mountain to try to reach the crash site.
Ten deputies who spent the night on the mountain were relieved by 10 more early Thursday. They and dozens of volunteers began searching the crash site at first light. Video from news helicopters Thursday morning showed the wreckage strewn at the bottom of a blackened cliff.
The dead included the pilot and his three children, two boys and a girl ages 5 to 9, Babeu said. The father lives in Safford in southeastern Arizona and owned a small aviation business there.
He had flown to the Phoenix suburb of Mesa with another pilot who co-owned the company and a company mechanic to pick up his children for Thanksgiving. The plane was headed back to Safford when it crashed.
Babeu said he personally notified the mother late Wednesday. The woman, who is divorced from the children's father, lives in Mesa and also is a pilot.
Some immediate family members are out of the country, so the names of those involved can't yet be released, Babeu said.
"This is their entire family — it's terrible," Babeu said. "Our hearts go out to the mom and the (families) of all the crash victims. We have has so many people that are working this day, and we just want to support them and embrace them and try to bring closure to this tragedy."
There was no indication the plane was in distress or that the pilot had radioed controllers about any problem, he said.
Tim Hacker / AP
A helicopter searchlight shines over the crash scene in Arizona's Superstition Mountains on Wednesday.
Authorities received calls reporting a mushroom-like explosion near the peak of a mountain, 40 miles east of downtown Phoenix, at about 6:30 p.m. MST (8:30 p.m. ET).
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.
'All of a sudden, it hit'
A joint report by NBC station KPNX and the Arizona Republic quoted Carla Machajewski, of Apache Junction, as saying that 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," she added.
KPHO-TV in Phoenix reported thatit was a Rockwell AC-69 twin engine aircraft Ponderosa Aviation in Safford, according to FAA sources.
The crash was captured on a webcam and posted to the Internet by a YouTube userin Fountain Hills, Az.
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.
Video showed several fires burning on the mountainside, where heavy brush is common.
Flames could still be seen hours after the crash.
Leave a Comment:
Tragic loss of life, but the only reason somebody would even attempt to fly over superstition mountains is for sightseeing, it's definitely not a regular flight route
Yes, very tragic. Why is it always children? Couldn't it be the Governor of Arizona for a change? Nah, she has the money to hire good pilots.
"Couldn't it be the Governor of Arizona for a change?" Seriously?? You need some counseling.
theCavalier - your moniker says it all. You are what is worst in our society.
Truly sorry for this loss of life - be they young or old.
Cavalier: has anyone ever told you how mean-spirited and nasty you are?
theCavalier... your name says it all.. definition of Cavalier: arrogant; inconsiderate; conceited.. and so on. I'm sure your family is so proud of you.. NOT..
Cavalier, happy thanksgiving to you too..I'm sure someone must love you but for the life of me I sure can't see why. Hope you improve with age, but it appears that rot has set in.
If they use the route for sightseeing, doesn't that constitute "a regular flight route"? After all, they regularly fly over for observing.
The Phoenix area is virtually surrounded by mountains. Planes have little choice but to fly over them. My deepest sympathies to the families.
Prayers for the families of those lost in this aviation tragedy.
In responce to the Cavalier - I hope that one day you will find the compassion to know that a statement like you left is not only brutal and horrible it is one that lacks humanity. To wish that kind of horror on someone when there are family and friends that are devistated, hurt, and mourning over this tragedy is tasteless, heartless, and inappropriate. I hope one day you will realize the negative impact of your words and learn from them and empathy comes into your life. My thoughts and prayers go out to the family members and friends who are suffering from this loss.
If you fly out of Falcon Field to eastern Arizona including Safford and Show Low then flying over the top of the Supes is the normal route. Commercial air traffic is routed into the area on the north side of the Supes and to the south is Gateway Airport airspace. I have hiked and climbed the exact area where the plane hit and see private aircraft go over all the time. I could see the fire from the crash from my ranch just west of the mountains. The plane appears to have hit the trail that leads from Flat Iron to the top of the mountain. I am going to hike it this week to check it out.
Condolences to the family and friends of this awful tragedy.
As much as we want life to be perfect and uneventful, it never was or will be.
We will keep all involved in our thoughts and prayers.
Yes, very tragic. Why is it always children? Why can't it be TheCavalier for a change (along with the parents who spawned that online monstrosity)?
"Planes have little choice but to fly over them."
Now that is a stupid comment if I have ever seen one.
agent orange, your own comment is as bad as the one by cavalier
I have flown there many times and no room for error if you are low. There are some serious up and down drafts. What a shame to loose these children. Very dangerous place to sightsee.
After 56 years flying, I have thousands of hours in the pilots seat, half of it alone. When you are up there, you have to depend on one person to save you, yourself. Flying in mountains is a different ball game. Most people don't know, pilot error is to blame on 95% of crashes. And bad weather is the cause of 96% (which is usually pilot error too, "have to get there idess").
Frank, before we fully blame this pilot, the 70's versions of this Aero Commander are famous for wing spar failure. Counting both in-flight failures and failed stress inspections, there are about 60 incidents with the early 600 series. Interestingly, Audie Murphy was killed in one in 1971 and Ted Kennedy was seriously injured in one in the mid 60's. Another interesting factor is the climb rate of this aircraft; it is almost 3,000 feet per minute. A normal climb-out would have put them over flight level 12, for sure.
Was there heavy icing reported in the area? Icing can seriously reduce a plane's climb performance and make a "normal climb-out" impossible (trust me, I've had a close shave once myself over the high Sierras).
I've flown thousands of hours..blah..blah..blah
Agent Orange...I used to live about 10 minutes where this plane hits, icing is never a problem in the Superstitions, there have only been two occasions in 10 years where it actually snowed in those mountains. That part of the Phoenix area typically stays above freezing even in the mountains.
Xotchil.....I don't know what Arizona you live in but it just snowed up there b4 Halloween....Furthermore there hasn't been a year...and Ive lived in the East Valley for over 25.....that the Supes haven't been snowcapped in winter at least once every season,sometimes several times,.....Also it was raining on this tragic evening and a lot cooler at 5000ft then at the valley floor....which was dipping that day/night due to the clouds/rain throughout the day.....They very well could have 'iced" up while going through the pass.....also the sun was setting and the "glare" from the western sky hitting the eastern face of the mountain makes it hard to see...especially when the sun is blinking in and out of the cloud cover....only God knows why/how this happened and I say whats needed now isnt the specualtion of why's or how's but what can be done for these poor families that lost loved ones on the eave of the day we all celebrate being thankful.....If anyone is aware of a site thats been set up for them I suggest posting it so we all may put our energy in to something alot more positive.....All the Best to the Families of the Dearly Departed.
Another tragic case of pilot error, bad judgement or total lack of experience. Mountains are Dangerious, and are to be avoided.
I don't see any basis for either of these statements. The crash happened last night, so nobody knows what caused the crash yet, least of all someone who just read about it on the internet. So there's absolutely no justification for blaming the pilot outright. And mountains are what they are, a beautiful part of the terrain, something to be seen and appreciated, not some kind of deathly hazard "to be avoided."
So nobody should ever fly a small plane through/over mountainous terrain, ever? Well then -- I guess everybody who happens to live amongst mountains or has to go through/over mountains to get to another part of the world had better move to the Gobi desert and never leave it. That includes you, greg berry.
Oh, wait, you'll have to fly over mountains to get to the Gobi desert, too. Never mind.
As the company with it's pilots does over $1 million a year doing contract flying for the USFS and the fact they have been doing business for years (moved to Safford in 2001-2002) I doubt the 2 pilots in the plane (both owners in the company) had lack of experience. It is very possible they had catastrophic aircraft failure that had both pilots too busy to use a had to call on radio before they hit.
Further research reveals the company was founded in 1974.
prayers to the families.
My sympathies to the families, especially to the mother of the three children.
The ghoulish coverage on local stations last night right after it happened was absolutely disgusting. I felt really sorry for anyone with family members out there on an airplane. They broke into programs with a news alert and then had to interview anyone and everyone who heard or saw or used to fly all the while saying they didn't know anything about anything.
We live in the foothill area at the base of the mountain and what I found ghoulish was all the traffic though the neighborhood. The traffic itself wasn't bothersome but that people were coming to get a glimpse of the tragedy was disturbing. Several were even taking pictures/videos.
I agree. The TV news coverage was absolutely appalling. What gives with these local newspeople? It is so sick!
I'm with you on that. I couldn't believe that they just kept repeating the same video of the crash over and over. That was the only thing on the news at 9 last night, over and over again. How horrible to see that crash and possibly be one of the victims family members, over and over again. Enough already, report the news when you have something really to say and stop talking to every Tom, Dick and Harry that has no clue!!!!!!
I agree........they broke into our regular programming to show the same loop over and over.......and with nothing new to say.......they even interviewed a little kid who described it with sounds, the whole thing was ridiculous and maddening.
Yup. We certainly wouldn't want to support news stories with photographic support of the rugged terrain. Let's have the people who don't live there think it was just an uneven landing strip.
I used to live in Phoenix 7 years ago (and still mourn this loss!)...I happen to think Phoenix has some of the best news coverage there is and were highly professional. This is a tragedy, which fortunately, doesn't happen much in Phoenix. When we had our flood here back in September, you better believe that this was on the news stations 24/7! My condolences to the families involved.
And the majority of the people going there just to see the crash probably call themselves "Christian", too. Guaranteed that those same people would get extremely upset when it's THEIR families who are the "entertainment".
The Quacked One, you live up to your name quite well. Actually, you are probably correct in saying that most of them at the crash scene were Christian because the majority of Americans ARE Christian. If a Chrtistian was there, I am sure many of them were offering prayers up for the victims and their families or something at least constructive unlike the atheist that would be there for entertainment value!
Linda M,
What makes you think atheists would be there for entertainment?
@The Quacked One -- who cares what religion the gawkers were? For you to feel the need to make a comment about religion in a story that has nothing to do with the subject indicates an anti-Christian bigotry which is just as bad Christian bigotry towards non-Christians.
@Linda M - Your comment is the kind of Christrian bigotry I'm referring to. Atheists may not offer prayers but they're not inhuman; they can have thoughts of sympathy that may not be directed at a deity but are still valid and perhaps as constructive as prayers depending on your beliefs. But we're not talking about a shrine here -- any Christian not required to be there to support rescue or other crash-related effort didn't go there just to pray. So why were they there?
IMO, no one not directly connected with a tragedy or support efforts ever needs to go to a crash, fire, or anything like that. We don't need to give into the baser aspects of our humanity when a tragedy seems so "fascinating." Aside from getting in the way of rescue/firefighting or whatever else needs to be done, it's incredibly insensitive to use the event as your entertainment, diversion, or whatever else you call it.
My thoughts and prayers are with the victim's family and friends, particularly the mother of those children.
linda m, hate-filled bigot much?
The pilot might have forgot the "offerings" during the prayer to the mountain gods before took off. Obviously, the angered gods took necessary revenge on the crew, said chief of the Indian tribe inhibiting the region.
Stupid Post of the Week, theenktaynk. You must be so proud. You are some piece of work - lacking in compassion and stupid to boot.
And thus the crash. The Indian chief inhibited safe passage while he inhabited the region.
I am disgusted with myself, absolutely disgusted.
I just wasted eight seconds of my life on that idiotic post.
Thanks, theenkywhatever.
And "the thinker-318752", you ain't any better. In fact, your comment is definitely RACIST.
Such a tragedy. The photo above shows the nature of these mountains. It is not the size of the range, it is their character that makes them so potentially fatal.
The proper way to die in the Supes is to hike in as an adult and never hike out like untold numbers have before.
4x4'd out there once. Pulled up, drank a pint of water checked the temp— 117 F. Turned up the AC to 80F. and slowly drove back to Civilization. Didn't think it was such a good morning to explore since it wasn't early enough. My Aviator glasses burned my face in the sun later after dinner and getting the Jeep cooled back down. Forgot my floppy hat. It was still close to 100F at 11 PM. Don't go out there in September, it's 1000 people wanting in and 1,000,000 wanting out.
It's people like you who should never go to places like that. You depend on your air-conditioned Jeep far too much.
Wow thats so sad, I suspect the pilot did not have night vision goggles to avoid terrain. So sad.
www.anon-net.au.tc
?
I have never heard of a general aviation pilot using night vision goggles... You have a poor line of sight of the ground right in front of you in most of these GA planes. You either you charts or a GPS device with terrain capabilities...
These reports about the news reports are typical of the liberal media. That is why people who are wise watch Fox News.
Airdale63 - Idiot. Liberal media has nothing to do with it, sensationalism for ratings and money motivates today's media. Sounds more like true capitalism to me.
Do you work for FOX or are you really making this all about politics? As said before, IDIOT.
6 people have tragically died on their way to spend the holiday with family & you make this about the liberal media??? How sad your life must be, I feel sorry for you that you feel such hatred towards an object in the face of something so humanly horrific. "There but for the grace of God go I" should be your thought process...not placing blame on the "liberal" media. I won't even go into the inequities of Fox News & those who so blindly follow it without listening to other outlets because again, this article is about the loss of innocent people...
yep, people that are stupid, self-righteous, and arrogant enough to think they are "wise", watch FOX news.
Why is no one damning god for this? For many, especially evangelical Christians, He is the one who decided these children would be killed.
Put the blame where it belongs. If the reverse had happened...no one killed...dozens of those brain-washed sheep would be praising god for his kindness.
Charles Richmond,
Regarding your post:
Lets see....inconsiderate, inhumane, insensitive, cruel, arrogant, inappropriate, rude, nasty and just plain unkind.
If your goal was to use most of humanities lesser qualities all in one simple (and its SIMPLE alright) post well you succeeded.
Congradulations!!!
I'll grade it a high B (for Buffoon) or an A (for Arsanine).
Happy Thanksgiving to you sir.
Charles Richmond actually has a valid point: Should ANYONE at all survive the crash, it will be God who gets the credit. Who gets the Celestial blame when there are no "miracles"?
howard, "lower qualities"? simply because charles pointed out one of the fundamental inconsistencies in some types of religious thought?
I wish the article contained more information. I wonder what the weather was like? What model plane was it? Was it dark at 6:30? Did the second plane mentioned have any connection with the accident? Was there any special reason a mechanic was on board? Was the plane overloaded?
I'm interested about the pilot and his qualifications, and experience.
I live a bit south of there and it was dark by 630. Also the plane was a Rockwell AC-69 so a six-passenger load (especially with children) doesn't seem like it could've been overloaded.
I'm also curious about his qualifications since he was flying for a company one would think he was at least experienced enough to know to go high over those mountains, even if the weather was ideal last night.
Many things could have caused the crash -- Engine problems; faulty altimeter; "pilot error"; sudden down-draft; flight control problems; etc; etc; etc. And the article does state that the pilots both had plenty of experience flying over those particular mountains on that particular route.
By the way, it's always a good idea to bring along a mechanic on flights such as that one, just in case there is a need to make an emergency landing. It's a LONG walk out of those mountains.
theCavalier you are a sick individual to wish death on anyone. This is a horrible tragedy, my prayers goes out to all of the family members. GOD bless their souls.
Perhaps you should then go about lambasting all the Right-wing Tea Taggers who always call for the deaths of all those "illegals".
Again, living up to your name. I have never heard any "Tea Tagger" calling for the death of illegals....sheesh!
The Tea Party DOES NOT call for ANY illegal immigrants to be killed (unlike the Occupy movement, which DOES call for the revolutionary murder of capitalists and elected officials) -- we call for our country's borders to be secured and for immigration laws to be consistently enforced. Claiming that this is tantamount to "wishing for the deaths of illegal immigrants" constitutes BLATANT DEFAMATION and WILL BE TREATED AS SUCH!!!
agent orange, whine and lie much?
such a sad day. it really gives new meaning to giving thanks for all that we have even if its practically nothing. RIP to those on the plane who did not make it.
What a terrible loss and a horrible time for the remaining family members. Blessings to each of them...our hearts are with your family.
that was"plane dumb" to fly over those mountains at night !
Was Dad too busy to just drive to pick up his children? Can't fix stupid.
and you know the family situation? I guess when my daughter lived in NJ and I lived in CA that I should have driven to pick her up for Thanksgiving. Idiot comments like yours abound on the internet whenever tragedy occurs
Arrive-1, I agree with you to the point that it seems such a short distance to fly. He had all year to plan for this day, being its not like it was a surprise holiday ..... In case you are wondering; it is only 165 miles from Safford to Phoenix. Its not like he had to fly cross country to pick them up. On the other hand, its just about as dangerous driving with all the road rage and such. A tragic waste.
Arrive,you are so right. Everyone knows people don't die in car crashes. Maybe all the armchair pilots should wait for the NTSB to do their thing. Whatever happened it's sad.
everyone loves dirty laundry... as awful as it may be
Arrive_1, it's faster, and it's a shorter distance to fly over those mountains than it is to drive through them. And it's actually a lot safer, too, statistically.
165 miles BY ROAD from Pheonix to Safford. That's 4-5 HOURS of driving, considering what driving in mountains is like. If you had only three or four days (maximum) to be with someone YOU love, would you want to spend more than 8 hours of that time driving? I sure as hell wouldn't.
To RollieB: They likely were not sightseeing. Though 6:30pm is 40 min. before official sunset, at that time the mountains would have been quite dark nevertheless. Historically speaking (and I am NOT saying this is the case here) controlled flight into terrain (mountains) is the result of low visibility/low light conditions and a pilot who is not aware of his proximity to terrain.
johnnyt: The weather was good, with light winds. The plane was, I'm thinking, a Rockwell AC-695 Commander twin turboprop. (Article says AC-69 of which there is no such model. Newsies got it wrong? Whoda' thunk it.)
It would have been fairly dark, yes. The second plane almost surely had nothing to do with this accident; there's an airport (Facon Field) not too far away remember. And, likely, no particular reason for a mechanic on board. It simply happened to be a friend, etc. coming along. Unlikely the plane was overloaded, too.
The pilot's qualifications may mean little. If you recall, Steve Fossett (look him up) died in a crash into a mountainside several years ago. The crash occured in daylight with good visibility and Fossett was a very experienced and highly qualified pilot.
Sunset was at 5:20
Oops. I'd meant to write "about 40 mins. after..."
:0)
The AC-69 most likely came from FAA sources. Controllers use 4 letter designators for all aircraft. The 4 letter designator for the Rockwell 695 is AC69. Hope that helps.
According to the companies own website, " The Model 500S also known as the model 520, is the orginal Twin Commander. The
prototype design was certified by the CAA, the predecessor organization to the FAA, in
1950. The first 500S rolled off the assembly line in August of 1951. The 500S was known
as the Shrike Commander. Despite its shorter length compared to later models, the 500S
could comfortably carry seven passengers and 350 Lbs of luggage. The plane had a max
range of 700 nautical miles or about 5 hours worth of endurance over a fire incident.
The Model 690 is a 260 knot aircraft that can carry 8 passengers over 1400NM range or
about 5 hours of endurance over a fire incident."
Frank is right, mountain flying is completely different. You just don't have the same "wiggle" room that you have at lower altitudes. A lot of GOOD pilots have wrecked in the mountains. It's REAL easy to screw up in high-altitude terrain.
Mark S has it right. It is crazy and stupid to fly at night over desert and mountain terrain. I assume mechanic was aboard to act as right seat copilot if left seat pilot conked out. Very bad judgement indeed. Reminds me of stupid evening flight of JFK Jr from NJ to the Vinyard, ending up in a death spiral into the Atlantic. Show offs are they!.
Had they been flying during daylight hours, all it would have taken to cause the crash is a BIRD hitting the plane.
But since you're afraid flying in any plane after dark, you better not fly on any of the commercial airlines, either -- they do a LOT of night-time flying over mountains.
Based on the information in the article, I assume the father and mother, who live in different locations were not any of the adult victims. My sympathies to both parents and other family members.
based on the information in the article, your assumption is wrong. The father both owned the company the plane belonged to AND he was one of the pilots. Go read the article again.
They were flying at dusk, in the dark, no moon, all you have is instruments and if you don't trust or pay attention to your instruments until it's to late especially over mountains you have a tragedy like this. Truly is unfortunate.
That is assuming the instruments are working properly.
I agree, you do have back ups but anything made by man can malfunction at times. Chance and unforeseen occurrences can befall us all. It's such a shame that this had to happen. However this weekend how many more will be hurt, maimed or killed traveling on highways we just won't hear about it. This doesn't lessen this terrible tragedy it's always horrible when children are involved it just goes to show that in this world every day is a gamble.
My sincere condolences to the friends and families of these people. Anyone who has anything else to say (besides of course experts who may have some knowledge of what happened and how it might be prevented in the future) are heartless. On this Thanksgiving Day, bow your heads and thank whomever you pray to for what you have and who is with you. If you don't pray to anyone, consider your luck and be greatful that you have at least a roof and food. I am disgusted by the lack of kindness. Basic sadness at the loss of people in such a tragic way is a hallmark of a decent human being. There is evidence that even non-human animals mourn their dead. When I read some of the posts on these blogs, it is no wonder why our society is circling the drain. I do believe in God and will with HIS help, retain my compassion and continue to fight for what I know to be right. I hope others will see this and follow. RIP.
I think it's natural to wonder what happened, actually. It's a way of dealing with the "fate is so cruel" feeling this sort of thing gives one.
My sincere condolences also. I have family in the Safford-Clifton-Morencie area and I have not heard yet if they know the people involved.
regardless of poor judgment or of a stupid act, lives were lost! My heartfelt sympathy goes out to the families of all involved.
Terrible loss. Bless the families.
I got news for you Phoenix folks, your newspeople are no different than the newspeople from OKC. If a tragedy occurs, you can bet all three major network channels will have people out there running into each other, repeating what the other channel says, etc. I guess gone are the days of respect for the deceased in tragedies like this.
Those days never existed to begin with, not for "news journalism" anyway.
There are old pilpts and bold pilots, but no old bold pilots.
Vern....I remember those words well.
Oh, really? Then I guess the likes of Chuck Yeager were just a bunch of sissies, afraid to take any chances at all.......