Small planes collide over Arizona

September 10th, 2009 - 1:38 am ICT by BNO News  

COOLIDGE, Arizona (BNO NEWS) — Two small planes collided in midair near Coolidge, Arizona on Wednesday morning, officials told BNO News. One person was confirmed dead.

“We believe that a single-engine Cessna 150 and a single-engine Piper Cherokee collided in midair above Coolidge around 9.45 a.m. Wednesday,” said Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Coolidge is a small city in Pinal County, about 56 miles southeast of Phoenix.

The planes, which were both carrying two people, came down about one to two miles from each other. The Cessna crashed near the intersection of Coolidge and Jefferson. One person on board was killed in the crash, while a second person was airlifted to a local hospital.

The Piper landed safely in a field about one to two miles northeast of where the Cessna crashed. No one on board, or on the ground, was injured.

The Cessna aircraft, build in 1983, was registered to Christiansen Aviation, Inc. in Wilmington, Delaware, according to official records. The Piper aircraft, build in 1988, was registered to Oxford Airline Training Center, Inc. in Goodyear, Arizona. The identity of the victims have not yet been released.

FAA safety inspectors are en-route to both sites and are expected to arrive on scene around noon local time. Because one person died in the crash, a National Transportation Safety Board investigator will also investigate.

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