Mesa, Arizona plane crash: 5 killed when small plane crashes through airport fence and hits car

On By Littum



CNN
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Five people, including a child, were killed when a small plane crashed through a fence and hit a car while aborting takeoff at an Arizona airport Tuesday afternoon, officials said.

The Honda HA-420 jet crashed at about 4:40 p.m. at Falcon Field Airport in Mesa, a city about 25 miles east of Phoenix, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

“Preliminary information indicates that the aircraft struck the airport’s perimeter fence and a passenger vehicle during an aborted takeoff,” the NTSB said in an emailed statement to CNN Wednesday morning.

Five people were killed in the crash, according to Marrisa Ramirez-Ramos, a spokeswoman for the Mesa Fire and Medical Department.

“Five people were on board the aircraft,” the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement to CNN. “The aircraft struck a vehicle outside the airport property.”

Four people on the plane died at the scene, according to the Mesa Police Department.

They were identified as Spencer Lindahl, 43, Rustin Randall, 48, Drew Kimball, 44 and Graham Kimball, 12, all of Arizona. The fifth person survived the accident and is hospitalized with burns, the police said.

The driver of the vehicle involved in the crash also died, but police are withholding the person’s name pending official confirmation of their identity.

The plane crashed through a metal fence and “a couple of concrete walls,” a witness, Joshua Golabi, said. CNN affiliate KPNX.

Golabi, himself a pilot, said he did not see the impact of the crash but heard it.

“We were just about to get into our plane and leave when we heard a bang and saw a plume of smoke,” Golabi said.

The plane was consumed by flames at one point, KPNX reported.

“It’s just very jarring and it’s a reminder to all pilots to always fly and maneuver as safely as possible,” Golabi said.

The NTSB is leading the investigation into the crash, a spokesman said.

CNN’s Sara Finch and Cindy Von Quednow contributed to this report.