Pilot killed in collision involving Mötley Crüe singer's plane identified as Marine Corps veteran
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.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Boston Globe
19 hours ago
- Boston Globe
Israel prepares to move Palestinians to southern Gaza as Israelis urge mass protest over war
Families of hostages fear the coming offensive further endangers the 50 hostages remaining in Gaza, just 20 of them thought to still be alive. They and other Israelis were horrified by the recent release of videos showing emaciated hostages speaking under duress and pleading for help and food. The families and supporters have pressed the government for a deal to stop the war — a call that some former Israeli army and intelligence chiefs have made as well in recent weeks. Advertisement A group representing the families has urged Israelis into the streets on Sunday. 'Across the country, hundreds of citizen-led initiatives will pause daily life and join the most just and moral struggle: the struggle to bring all 50 hostages home,' it said in a statement. 'I want to believe that there is hope, and it will not come from above, it will come only from us,' said Dana Silberman Sitton, sister of Shiri Bibas and aunt of Kfir and Ariel Bibas, who were killed in captivity. Advertisement She spoke at a weekly rally in Tel Aviv, along with Pushpa Joshi, sister of kidnapped Nepalese hostage Bipin Joshi, a student seized from a kibbutz. 'I miss my best friend,' Pushpa said. A Palestinian man carried the body of his 7-year-old nephew Alaa Al-Toum who, according to the family, was killed in an Israeli army airstrike on Friday. Jehad Alshrafi/Associated Press Airstrike kills a baby girl and her parents An Israeli airstrike in Gaza killed a baby girl and her parents on Saturday, Nasser hospital officials and witnesses said. Motasem al-Batta, his wife and the girl were killed in their tent in the crowded Muwasi area. 'Two and a half months, what has she done?' neighbor Fathi Shubeir asked, sweating as temperatures in the shattered territory soared above 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius). 'They are civilians in an area designated safe.' Israel's military said it couldn't comment on the strike without more details. It said it is dismantling Hamas' military capabilities and takes precautions not to harm civilians. Muwasi is one of the heavily populated areas in Gaza where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel plans to widen the coming military offensive, along with Gaza City and 'central camps' — an apparent reference to the built-up Nuseirat and Bureij camps in central Gaza. Israel may be using the threat to pressure Hamas into releasing more hostages taken in Elsewhere, an official at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City said it received the bodies of six people who were killed in the Zikim area of northern Gaza, as well as four people killed in shelling. Palestinians struggled to get donated food at a community kitchen in Gaza City, northern Gaza Strip, on Saturday. Jehad Alshrafi/Associated Press 11 more deaths related to malnutrition Another 11 malnutrition-related deaths occurred in Gaza over the past 24 hours, the territory's Health Ministry said Saturday, with one child among them. That brings malnutrition-related deaths during the war to 251. Advertisement The United Nations is warning that levels of starvation and malnutrition in Gaza are at their highest since the war began. Palestinians are drinking contaminated water as diseases spread, while some Israeli leaders continue to talk openly about the mass relocation of people from Gaza. A 20-year old Palestinian woman described as being in a 'state of severe physical deterioration' died Friday after being transferred from Gaza to Italy for treatment, the hospital said Saturday. The U.N. and partners say getting food and other aid into the territory of over 2 million people, and then on to distribution points, remains highly challenging with Israeli restrictions and pressure from crowds of hungry Palestinians. The U.N. human rights office says at least 1,760 people were killed while seeking aid between May 27 and Wednesday. It says 766 were killed along routes of supply convoys and 994 in the vicinity of 'non-U.N. militarized sites,' a reference to the Israeli-backed and U.S.-supported Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which since May has been the primary distributor of aid in Gaza. People took part in a protest demanding the end of the war, the immediate release of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government in Tel Aviv. Mahmoud Illean/Associated Press US stops visitor visas for people from Gaza The U.S. State Department on Saturday said all visitor visas for people from Gaza are being stopped while a review is carried out of how 'a small number of temporary medical-humanitarian visas' were issued in recent days. The Hamas-led attack in 2023 killed around 1,200 people in Israel. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed 61,897 people in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry, which does not specify how many were fighters or civilians but says around half were women and children. Advertisement The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals. The U.N. and independent experts consider it the most reliable source on casualties. Israel disputes its figures but has not provided its own. Associated Press writer Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed.
Boston Globe
20 hours ago
- Boston Globe
West Virginia sends hundreds of National Guard members to Washington at Trump team's request
Advertisement A protest against Trump's intervention drew scores to Dupont Circle on Saturday afternoon before a march to the White House, about 1.5 miles away. Demonstrators assembled behind a banner that said 'No fascist takeover of D.C.,' and some in the crowd held signs that said 'No military occupation.' Trump was at his Virginia golf club after Friday's summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Gov. Patrick Morrisey, announced Saturday that he was sending a contingent of 300 to 400 members. 'West Virginia is proud to stand with President Trump in his effort to restore pride and beauty to our nation's capital,' Morrisey said. West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey spoke at the state capitol in Charleston, in January. Chris Jackson/Associated Press Morgan Taylor, one of the organizers who coordinated Saturday's protest, said they were hoping to spark enough backlash to Trump's actions that the administration would be forced to pull back on its crime and immigration agenda. Advertisement 'It's hot, but I'm glad to be here. It's good to see all these people out here,' she said. 'I can't believe that this is happening in this country at this time.' Fueling the protests were concerns about Trump overreach and that he had used crime as a pretext to impose his will on Washington. John Finnigan, 55. was taking an afternoon bike ride when he ran into the protest in downtown Washington. The real estate construction manager who has lived in the capital for 27 years said that Trump's moves were 'ridiculous' because 'crime is at a 30-year-low here.' 'Hopefully some of the mayors and some of the residents will get out in front of it and try and make it harder for it to happen in other cities,' Finnigan said. Jamie Dickstein, a 24-year-old teacher, said she was 'very uncomfortable and worried' for the safety or her students given the 'unmarked officers of all types' now roaming Washington and detaining people. Dickstein said she turned out to the protest with friends and relatives to 'prevent a continuous domino effect going forward with other cities.' Activists carried signs during a protest against President Trump's federal takeover of policing of the District of Columbia, on Saturday. Alex Brandon/Associated Press The West Virginia activation suggests the administration sees the need for additional manpower, after the president personally played down the need for Washington to hire more police officers. Maj. Gen. James Seward, West Virginia's adjutant general, said in a statement that members of the state's National Guard 'stand ready to support our partners in the National Capital Region' and that the Guard's 'unique capabilities and preparedness make it an invaluable partner in this important undertaking.' Advertisement Federal agents have appeared in some of the city's most highly trafficked neighborhoods, garnering a mix of praise, pushback and alarm from local residents and leaders across the country. City leaders, who are obliged to cooperate with the president's order under the federal laws that direct the district's local governance, have sought to work with the administration, though they have bristled at the scope of the president's takeover. On Friday, the administration District officials say they are evaluating how to best comply. District of Columbia National Guard soldiers posed for photos with people outside Union Station, on Saturday. Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Associated Press In his order on Monday, Trump declared an emergency due to the 'city government's failure to maintain public order.' He said that impeded the 'federal government's ability to operate efficiently to address the nation's broader interests without fear of our workers being subjected to rampant violence.' In a letter to city residents, Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, wrote that 'our limited self-government has never faced the type of test we are facing right now.' She added that if Washingtonians stick together, 'we will show the entire nation what it looks like to fight for American democracy — even when we don't have full access to it.' Associated Press writer Josh Boak contributed to this report.
Los Angeles Times
20 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
Myanmar military airstrike on gem-mining town kills at least 21
BANGKOK — An airstrike by Myanmar's military on the town of Mogok, the center of the Southeast Asian country's lucrative gem-mining industry, has killed at least 21 people including a pregnant woman, an armed opposition group, residents and Myanmar's online media said Saturday. The assault was the latest in a series of frequent and deadly military airstrikes, often causing civilian casualties, that have intensified in a bid to reclaim territory from resistance groups amid the civil war that erupted after the army seized power in February 2021. The attack occurred Thursday night in Shwegu ward in Mogok township, about 70 miles northeast of Mandalay, the country's second-largest city, said Lway Yay Oo, a spokesperson for the the Ta'ang National Liberation Army. The TNLA is one of the powerful ethnic militias fighting against the government army near the Chinese border. 'About 21 civilians were killed. Seven others were injured. Homes and Buddhist monastery buildings were also damaged,' Lway Yay Oo said. Mogok, the ruby-mining center in the upper Mandalay region, was seized in July 2024 by the TNLA, a member of an alliance of ethnic militias that seized a large swath of territory in northeastern Myanmar in an offensive that began in late 2023. The group's statement released Friday night on its Telegram social media channel said 16 women were among those killed in the airstrike, which appeared to target a Buddhist monastery in Mogok's Shwegu ward. It said 15 houses were also damaged when a jet fighter dropped a bomb. Two Mogok residents told the Associated Press on Saturday that the death toll had risen to nearly 30, though the exact number could not be independently confirmed. The residents, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were afraid of being arrested by the military, said the death toll was high because one of the bombed houses had been hosting visitors to the pregnant woman. Independent online media, including Myanmar Now and Democratic Voice of Burma, released pictures and videos described as debris in the aftermath of the airstrike. The military did not comment on the attack in Mogok. In the past, the army has said it attacks only legitimate targets of war, describing the resistance forces as terrorists. Myanmar, also known as Burma, has been in turmoil since the army seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021. After peaceful demonstrations were put down with lethal force, many opponents of military rule took up arms, and large parts of the country are now embroiled in conflict. The military government has stepped up airstrikes against the armed pro-democracy People's Defense Force, and ethnic militias that have been fighting for greater autonomy for decades. The resistance forces have no defense against air attacks. The TNLA's statement said that 17 more people including two Buddhist monks had been killed and 20 others were injured in the first two weeks of August by airstrikes in areas controlled by the group. About 16 people, mostly truck drivers, were killed in airstrikes Monday on a convoy of trucks that were parked on the road due to heavy fighting near the town of Sagaing in central Myanmar, according to independent media reports in the country. Opponents and independent analysts estimate that the army now controls less than half the country while maintaining a tenacious grip on much of central Myanmar, including the capital, Naypyidaw. It has accelerated counteroffensives ahead of the election it has promised to hold at the end of this year in order to retake areas controlled by opposition forces. Critics say the elections won't be democratic because there is no free media and most leaders of Suu Kyi's party have been arrested. Suu Kyi was arrested in the 2021 coup. The planned vote is widely seen as an attempt to legitimize and maintain the military's rule. Several opposition groups have said they would seek to derail the election. Peck writes for the Associated Press.
