Two Planes Collide In Midair At Marana Airport In Arizona, A Few Days After The Toronto Tragedy
On Wednesday morning, two planes unexpectedly crashed in midair at Arizona’s Marana Airport, killing at least two passengers.
The Associated Press said that one of the planes crashed, leaving behind a mound of ashes and debris near to the runway, while the other jets made a safe landing.
Shortly after the planes crashed at 8:29 a.m. local time, a dense plume of black smoke was seen over the airport and surrounding area, and one of the affected airplanes appeared intact on the runway as police hurried to the site.
Two individuals were on board each plane at the time, according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), and it’s unclear how the other passengers are doing.
The two planes, a Cessna 172S and a Lancair 360 MK II, collided while ‘upwind of runway 12,’ one of the small regional airport’s two runways, according to the NTSB, which is looking into the crash.
Marana Regional Airport, outside Tucson, is classified as an uncontrolled airport by the FAA, which means it lacks an operational air traffic control tower.
Days prior, a Delta airliner crashed and flipped upside down in Toronto, leaving no fatalities but multiple significant injuries.
All six people on board and one person on the ground perished in the disaster. Among the dead was a young girl who was returning home to Tijuana, Mexico, after undergoing life-saving surgery.
Small aircraft crashes are not unusual—more than 1,000 were reported in the US alone in 2023—but the recurrent incidents have alarmed the country’s aviation community.
Because one of the biggest aircraft tragedies in modern American history occurred on January 29, the aviation industry has come under special public scrutiny.
An American Airlines flight struck an Army Black Hawk helicopter over Reagan International Airport in another terrifying mid-air collision, killing 67 people. All occupants of the airliner and the helicopter perished in the crash.
