A small plane plowed through a fence and then slammed into a car during an aborted takeoff from an Arizona airport, killing five people, including a 12-year-old child, officials said.
The Honda HA-420 business jet crashed on Tuesday at Falcon Field Airport in Mesa, located about 25 miles east of Phoenix, around 4:40 p.m., according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The impact sparked a small fire on the roadway outside the airport, with large plumes of gray smoke billowing from the wreckage.
Five people were confirmed dead at the scene, including the plane’s pilot, co-pilot and two of the three passengers onboard, Fox 10 Phoenix reported. They were identified as 48-year-old Rustin Randall, 44-year-old Drew Kimball, 43-year-old Spencer Lindahl and 12-year-old Graham Kimball. The surviving plane passenger, who was not identified, remained hospitalized on Wednesday.
The driver of the vehicle that was struck was also killed in the crash. Their name has not been released.
“Our community suffered a tragic loss this afternoon,” Mesa Fire and Medical Department’s spokesperson Marrisa Ramirez-Ramos said.
Pilot Joshua Golabi told KPNX he was about to head out to his aircraft when he “heard a pop and saw a plume of smoke.”
“He went through that dip. He went past the road through the metal gated fence that they have, through I believe a few concrete walls,” he recalled.
“It’s just very jarring and it’s a reminder to all pilots to always fly and maneuver as safe as you can,” Golabi concluded.
What exactly caused the plane, headed for Utah at the time, to crash is unclear. The FAA, the National Transportation Safety Board and Mesa authorities continue to investigate.