Two small planes, a Cessna 172S and a Lancair 360 MK II, collided midair at Marana Regional Airport in Arizona, resulting in at least two confirmed deaths. The incident occurred while the aircraft were upwind of runway 12. The Cessna managed to land safely, while the Lancair crashed onto the terrain near runway 3, leading to a post-impact fire. This tragic event follows numerous recent aviation incidents in the US, including a deadly helicopter-airliner collision in Washington DC and other crashes involving small planes, prompting calls for emergency funding for air traffic control improvements.
Los Angeles:
Officials reported that at least two individuals have died following a midair collision between two small planes at Marana Regional Airport in Arizona.
The incident involved a Cessna 172S and a Lancair 360 MK II, which collided while flying upwind of runway 12 on Wednesday morning, as indicated by preliminary data from the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
The NTSB stated in a message on X that the aircraft involved were a fixed-wing, single-engine Cessna 172S and a Lancair 360 MK II.
Leading the investigation, the NTSB noted that the planes “collided while upwind of runway 12,” one of the two runways at the airport.
The Marana Police Department confirmed that both aircraft were smaller, fixed-wing, single-engine models.
Authorities from the Marana Police Department are currently present at the airport.
According to the NTSB, the Cessna “landed safely,” whereas the Lancair “impacted the ground near runway 3, resulting in a post-impact fire.”
No details regarding the victims have been disclosed.
This tragic incident follows a recent helicopter collision with an American Airlines passenger plane in Washington DC, which resulted in the deaths of all 64 passengers and three crew members.
In the same week, a small medical transport plane crashed into several structures in Philadelphia, leading to the deaths of all six people aboard and at least one individual on the ground.
On Monday, a Delta Air Lines flight in Toronto skidded down a runway in flames, ultimately flipping over and coming to rest upside down, with all 80 passengers onboard surviving.
On February 6, a small aircraft carrying ten people crashed in Alaska after losing speed and altitude, disappearing from radar. The Cessna 208B Grand Caravan, which was traveling from Unalakleet to Nome, was later recovered, but none of the occupants survived, as confirmed by the Alaska Department of Public Safety.
On February 10, two private jets collided at Scottsdale Airport in Arizona, resulting in one fatality and four injuries.
This series of incidents in the US was succeeded by a crash in Canada on Monday. A Delta Air Lines regional jet with 80 people aboard flipped at Toronto Pearson International Airport, causing injuries to nearly two dozen but no fatalities.
The recent crash underscores growing concerns in the US aviation sector, which has called on Congress for emergency funding to enhance air traffic control technology and staffing.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)