5 killed when small plane crashes through Arizona airport fence and hits car
By Amanda Musa, CNN
(CNN) — Five people, including a child, were killed when a small plane crashed through a fence and hit a car while aborting takeoff at an Arizona airport Tuesday afternoon, officials said.
The Honda HA-420 jet crashed around 4:40 p.m. at Falcon Field Airport in Mesa, a city about 25 miles east of Phoenix, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
“Preliminary information indicates that the plane impacted the airport perimeter fence and a passenger vehicle during an aborted takeoff,” the NTSB said in an emailed statement to CNN Wednesday morning.
Five people were killed in the crash, according to Marrisa Ramirez-Ramos, a spokesperson for the Mesa Fire and Medical Department.
“Five people were on board the plane,” the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement to CNN. “The aircraft struck a vehicle outside of the airport property.”
Four people on the plane died at the scene, according to the Mesa Police Department.
They were identified as Spencer Lindahl, 43, Rustin Randall, 48, Drew Kimball, 44 and Graham Kimball, 12, all of Arizona. The fifth person survived the crash and is hospitalized with burn injuries, police said.
The driver of the vehicle involved in the crash also died, but police are withholding the person’s name pending official confirmation of their identity.
The plane crashed through a metal fence and “a few concrete walls,” a witness, Joshua Golabi, told CNN affiliate KPNX.
A pilot himself, Golabi said he didn’t see the impact of the crash but heard it.
“We were just about to get into our aircraft and go when we heard a pop and saw a plume of smoke,” Golabi said.
The plane was consumed by flames at one point, KPNX reported.
“It’s just very jarring and it’s a reminder to all pilots to always fly and maneuver as safe as you can,” Golabi said.
The NTSB is leading the investigation into the crash, a spokesperson said.
CNN’s Sara Finch and Cindy Von Quednow contributed to this report.
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