Four dead in Arizona plane crash horror as aircraft erupts into fireball
The victims were all medical personnel who were on their way to a hospital to pick up a patient, it has been confirmed. The Beechcraft 300 crashed on approach to land at an airport near Chinle in Arizona, US.
Police said "something went wrong" as the aircraft tried to arrive at the base in the Navajo Nation, an American Indian reservation of land. The reservation, governed by a Native American tribal nation, expressed its sadness at the tragedy, which follows a medical transport plane crash in Philadelphia earlier this year.
Federal Aviation Administration officials the cause of the crash in Arizona is not yet known. District Police Commander Emmett Yazzie said: "They were trying to land there and unfortunately something went wrong." He confirmed the crew was planning to pick up a patient from Chinle Hospital, a small facility with around 60 beds.
But District Police Commander Yazzie declined to offer other details about the crash, saying he was waiting on federal investigators. The National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA are investigating.
Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren said in a social media post that he was heartbroken to learn of the crash. He said: "These were people who dedicated their lives to saving others, and their loss is felt deeply across the Navajo Nation."
Eight people died in the crash in Philadelphia earlier this year. The National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the crash, has said the voice recorder on that plane was not working. Nurses at hospital had thrown a party for the six-year-old patient hours before she died in the air disaster.
And last month, three people died after a small plane crashed off the California coast of Monterey County. The twin-engine Beechcraft, which originally took off from San Carlos airport and had three people on board, crashed approximately 200 to 300 yards off of Point Pinos.
A USCG helicopter, three Cal Fire rescue boats, and personnel from the Pacific Grove Police Department, Monterey County Sheriff's Office, San Mateo County Sheriff's Office, and Monterey Fire Department were among the multi-agency rescue effort.
Flares flying into the air from the area around the plane disaster were seen in harrowing footage. The crash's debris washed up on the shore and on rocks. An oxygen tank and pieces of metal which ended up down the coast were captured on camera during the tragic incident.
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The Independent
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4 people die in crash of medical transport plane on Navajo Nation in northern Arizona
A small medical transport plane crashed and caught fire Tuesday on the Navajo Nation in northern Arizona, killing four people, the tribe said in a statement. A Beechcraft 300 from the CSI Aviation company left Albuquerque, New Mexico, with four medical personnel on board, according to the Federal Aviation Administration and other agencies. It crashed in the early afternoon near the airport in Chinle, about 300 miles (483 kilometers) northeast of Phoenix. 'They were trying to land there and unfortunately something went wrong,' district Police Commander Emmett Yazzie said. The crew was planning pick up a patient who needed critical care from the federal Indian Health Service hospital in Chinle, said Sharen Sandoval, director of the Navajo Department of Emergency Management. She said the plan was to return to Albuquerque. The patient's location and condition were not known Tuesday evening. Tribal authorities began receiving reports at 12:44 p.m. of black smoke at the airport, Sandoval said. The cause of the crash wasn't known, the tribe said. The National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA are investigating. Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren said in a social media post that he was heartbroken to learn of the crash. 'These were people who dedicated their lives to saving others, and their loss is felt deeply across the Navajo Nation,' he said. Medical transports by air from the Navajo Nation are common because most hospitals are small and do not offer advanced or trauma care. The Chinle airport is one of a handful of airports that the tribe owns and operates on the vast 27,000 square-mile (70,000 square-kilometer) reservation that stretches into Arizona, New Mexico and Utah -- the largest land base of any Native American tribe. In January, a medical transport plane crashed in Philadelphia, killing eight people. The National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the crash, has said the voice recorder on that plane was not working. ___ Associated Press journalists Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City and Felicia Fonseca in Flagstaff, Arizona, contributed to this report.
Daily Mirror
06-08-2025
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Four dead in Arizona plane crash horror as aircraft erupts into fireball
Four people died after a medical transport plane crashed and caught fire yesterday. The victims were all medical personnel who were on their way to a hospital to pick up a patient, it has been confirmed. The Beechcraft 300 crashed on approach to land at an airport near Chinle in Arizona, US. Police said "something went wrong" as the aircraft tried to arrive at the base in the Navajo Nation, an American Indian reservation of land. The reservation, governed by a Native American tribal nation, expressed its sadness at the tragedy, which follows a medical transport plane crash in Philadelphia earlier this year. Federal Aviation Administration officials the cause of the crash in Arizona is not yet known. District Police Commander Emmett Yazzie said: "They were trying to land there and unfortunately something went wrong." He confirmed the crew was planning to pick up a patient from Chinle Hospital, a small facility with around 60 beds. But District Police Commander Yazzie declined to offer other details about the crash, saying he was waiting on federal investigators. The National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA are investigating. Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren said in a social media post that he was heartbroken to learn of the crash. He said: "These were people who dedicated their lives to saving others, and their loss is felt deeply across the Navajo Nation." Eight people died in the crash in Philadelphia earlier this year. The National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the crash, has said the voice recorder on that plane was not working. Nurses at hospital had thrown a party for the six-year-old patient hours before she died in the air disaster. And last month, three people died after a small plane crashed off the California coast of Monterey County. The twin-engine Beechcraft, which originally took off from San Carlos airport and had three people on board, crashed approximately 200 to 300 yards off of Point Pinos. A USCG helicopter, three Cal Fire rescue boats, and personnel from the Pacific Grove Police Department, Monterey County Sheriff's Office, San Mateo County Sheriff's Office, and Monterey Fire Department were among the multi-agency rescue effort. Flares flying into the air from the area around the plane disaster were seen in harrowing footage. The crash's debris washed up on the shore and on rocks. An oxygen tank and pieces of metal which ended up down the coast were captured on camera during the tragic incident.
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