Pilot killed in collision involving Mötley Crüe singer's plane identified as Marine Corps veteran
FRANKLIN, Tenn. (WKRN) — The pilot who died when a private plane collided with a business jet at the Scottsdale Airport in Arizona has been identified as 78-year-old Joie Vitosky, according to the Scottsdale Police Department.
Vitosky was certified as a flight engineer since 1978 and a pilot since 2019, according to FAA records.
Originally from Okemah, Oklahoma, Vitosky joined the Marine Corps in his early twenties because he wanted to fly, his ex-wife Ann Vitosky told the Associated Press. He became a Marine Corps aviator and flew helicopters in Vietnam in 1969, she said. After spending over a decade with the Marine Corps, he started flying Learjets.
Military plane crashes near San Diego: authorities
Vitosky was killed after the jet he was piloting veered off the runway and collided with another parked plane after an attempt to land on Monday at about 2:45 p.m. Kelli Kuester, a coordinator at the Scottsdale Airport, suspected that the landing gear of the jet had failed before it ran off the runway.
The plane was carrying four people: two pilots and two passengers. The three other people on the jet were said to be injured. Kuester said two of them were taken to area trauma centers and one was in stable condition at a separate hospital.
A crew member aboard the parked plane was not seriously injured, the plane's owners confirmed to the Associated Press.
One of the jets involved in the accident — the Learjet that collided with the parked plane — was owned by Mötley Crüe frontman Vince Neil.
'The pilot was tragically killed; the co-pilot and other passengers were taken to local hospitals,' the band wrote in a statement shared to Instagram. 'Vince was not on the plane. Vince's girlfriend and her friend suffered injuries, albeit not life threatening.'
A statement from Neil's lawyer on Monday confirmed that the jet was attempting to land at the Scottsdale Airport when it veered from the runway.
'Mr. Neil's thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved, and he is grateful for the critical aid of all first responders assisting today,' the statement concluded.
Ann Vitosky said she believed her ex-husband Joie Vitosky had been flying for Neil for 'a few' years.
She said he died doing what he loved, and he would probably be happy to go the way he did. 'His passion was flying,' she said.
The two share three children and four grandchildren.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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