Two killed after small planes collide midair in Arizona
At least two people have died after two small planes collided mid-air near Marana Regional Airport in Arizona, police said.
The planes that collided were identified as a Cessna 172S and a Lancair 360 MK II, both fixed-wing, single-engine aircraft, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said in a statement on X.
The NTSB, which is leading the investigation into the incident, said that based on preliminary information, the aircraft “collided while upwind of runway 12”, which is one of two runways at the airport.
It added that the Cessna “landed uneventfully” while the Lancair “impacted terrain near runway 3 and a post-impact fire ensued.”
No information about the victims was provided.
The deadly collision comes just weeks after a helicopter collided with an American Airlines passenger plane in Washington DC, killing all 64 passengers and three crew members.
The same week, a small medical transport plane crashed into several buildings in the US city of Philadelphia, killing all six people on board and at least one other person on the ground.
On Monday, a Delta Air Lines flight in Toronto skidded along the runway in flames before flipping over and coming to a dramatic halt upside down. All 80 people on board survived.
The latest crash comes as the US aviation sector on Wednesday called on Congress for emergency funding for air traffic control technology and staffing.
