At least one person is dead after two small aircraft collided midair at an Arizona airport Wednesday, authorities said.
Gatekeepers News reports that a Cessna 172S and Lancair 360 MK II collided at 8:28 a.m. local time near the Marana Regional Airport, according to preliminary information from the National Transportation Safety Board.
The aircraft “collided while upwind of runway 12,” one of two runways at the airport. The Cessna landed “uneventfully” and the Lancair impacted terrain near the other runway and “a post-impact fire ensured,” the NTSB said.
The Marana Police Department is on the scene at the airport and confirmed at least one death from the incident.
The Federal Aviation Administration called the airport an “uncontrolled field,” which does not have an operating air traffic control tower. Pilots often will use a Common Traffic Advisory Frequency to announce their position to other pilots who are in the airport vicinity. Pilots operating in uncontrolled fields are still required to comply with all federal aviation regulations.
An NTSB investigator is on the way to the scene and will arrive Thursday morning to document the scene and examine the aircraft. The FAA is also responding.
The incident follows a recent string of aviation incidents beginning with the January 29 midair collision at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport that killed 67 people when a military helicopter and American Airlines regional jet collided.
Since then, four other aviation incidents have drawn attention to air safety, including the crash of a medevac plane in Philadelphia, a plane that crashed near Nome, Alaska, killing 10 people, a private plane that ran off the runway in Scottsdale, killing the pilot on board, and more recently, a Delta Air Lines regional jet that rolled over on the runway in Toronto.
