2 people killed in plane crash at southern Arizona airport

PHOENIX – Two people were killed in a plane crash at a southern Arizona airport on Wednesday morning, authorities said.

Two small planes, each carrying two people, collided midair over Marana Regional Airport around 8:25 a.m., according to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

One plane landed uneventfully and the other hit the ground near a runway and caught fire, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said, based on preliminary information before its investigators had arrived.

The Marana Police Department confirmed two fatalities in a social media post but did not provide additional details.

The deceased were identified later as 70-year-old Michael Reinath and 76-year-old Linda Gifford of Rio Vista, California.

The FAA and NTSB are investigating the crash, which was the second fatal Arizona airport incident this month. On Feb. 10, the pilot of a private jet owned by Mötley Crüe singer Vince Neil was killed in a Scottsdale Airport runway collision.

The crash involved a Cessna 172S and a Lancair 360 MK II, according to the NTSB. Lancair 360 planes were originally marketed as kits that are no longer in production.

The operator of the Cessna — AeroGuard, a commercial flight training school — said its two pilots were not injured.

Arizona airport where plane crash happened has no tower

Marana Regional Airport, which is owned by the town of Marana, has two intersecting runways but operates without an air traffic control tower.

A multimillion-dollar project was underway to build a tower but delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic pushed back construction. Tens of thousands of flights arrive and depart each year from the general aviation airport, which is located about 30 minutes northwest of Tucson on Avra Valley Road.

Most airports in the U.S. do not have air traffic control towers.

In those airspaces, pilots use a designated radio channel to announce intentions for landing and taking off, said Jeff Guzzetti, an airline safety consultant and a former Federal Aviation Administration and NTSB investigator.

Just because an airport doesn’t have a control tower doesn’t mean it’s unsafe, he said.

“All the pilots should be broadcasting on this common traffic advisory frequency. And there’s also a responsibility to see and avoid. Each pilot is responsible to see and avoid so they don’t collide with each other,” Guzzetti said.

Other recent U.S. plane crashes

The U.S. aviation industry is reeling from a recent string of deadly disasters.

It started when a commercial jetliner and an Army helicopter collided near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. That was followed by a medical transportation plane crashing in Philadelphia and a small commuter plane going down in western Alaska.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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