2 people are dead in a small plane collision at a southern Arizona
airport
Send a link to a friend
 [February 20, 2025]
By MORGAN LEE and SEJAL GOVINDARAO
A midair collision involving two small planes in southern Arizona killed
two people Wednesday morning, authorities said.
Federal air-safety investigators said each plane had two people aboard
when they collided at Marana Regional Airport on the outskirts of
Tucson.
A Cessna 172 landed uneventfully and a Lancair 360 MK II hit the ground
near a runway and caught fire, according to the National Transportation
Safety Board, which is leading the investigation and cited preliminary
information before its investigators had arrived.
The Marana Police Department confirmed that the two people killed were
aboard one aircraft and said responders did not have a chance to provide
medical treatment. Police did not identify which plane they were in, but
the operator of the Cessna —AeroGuard, a commercial flight training
school — said its two pilots were not injured.
Neither plane was based out of the Marana airport, the city said. The
municipal fire department helped extinguish flames, said Marana police
Sgt. Vincent Rizzi.
AeroGuard spokesperson Matt Panichas declined to comment on specifics of
the collision but said it's working closely with the investigative
agencies. “We are deeply saddened by the two fatalities from this tragic
accident, and our thoughts and prayers are with their families and loved
ones during this difficult time,” Panichas said in a statement to The
Associated Press.
The collision came more than a week after a plane crash in Scottsdale
killed one of two pilots of a private jet owned by Mötley Crüe singer
Vince Neil. That aircraft veered off a runway and hit a business jet.
It also followed four major aviation disasters that have occurred in
North America in the last month. The most recent involved a Delta jet
that flipped on its roof while landing in Toronto and the deadly crash
of a commuter plane in Alaska.
[to top of second column]
|
In this image taken from video, plane debris seen from above at
Marana Regional Airport after a deadly crash in Marana, Ariz. on
Wednesday, Feb 19, 2025. (KNXV via AP)
In late January, 67 people were killed in a midair collision in
Washington, D.C., involving an American Airlines passenger jet and
an Army helicopter, marking the United States' deadliest aviation
disaster since 2001. Just a day later, a medical transport jet with
a child patient, her mother and four others aboard crashed into a
Philadelphia neighborhood, exploding in a fireball that engulfed
several homes. That crash killed seven people, including all those
aboard, and injured 19 others.
The airport in Marana has two intersecting runways and operates
without an air traffic control tower.
A multimillion-dollar project was underway to build a tower but
delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic pushed back construction. Tens
of thousands of flights arrive and depart from the airport annually.
Most airports in the U.S. do not have air traffic control towers.
In those airspaces, pilots use a designated radio channel to
announce intentions for landing and taking off, said Jeff Guzzetti,
an airline safety consultant and a former Federal Aviation
Administration and NTSB investigator.
Just because an airport doesn’t have a control tower doesn’t mean
it’s unsafe, he said.
“All the pilots should be broadcasting on this common traffic
advisory frequency. And there’s also a responsibility to see and
avoid. Each pilot is responsible to see and avoid so they don’t
collide with each other,” Guzzetti said.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved
 |
