Arizona plane crash kills 2 in midair collision at Tucson-area airport

At least two people have died after two small planes crashed midair Wednesday in Arizona, officials said. 

The collision occurred at 8:25 a.m. local time at the Marana Regional Airport in Arizona, the Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday. The two planes that collided were both smaller fixed-wing single-engine planes, one a Lancair and the other a Cessna.

The airport is located about 21 miles northwest of Tucson. 

Each plane was carrying two passengers and the two who died were on the same aircraft, according to a spokesperson for the town of Marana. The other two people were uninjured.

The two aircrafts collided while “upwind of runway 12,” the National Transportation Safety Board said. The Cessna did not successfully land and the Lancair “impacted terrain near runway 3 and a post-impact fire ensued.”

Neither aircraft was based out of Marana Regional Airport, officials said.

“On behalf of the Town of Marana and the Marana Regional Airport, our hearts go out to all the individuals and families impacted by this event,” Marana Regional Airport Superintendent Galen Beem said in a statement. “This is an unprecedented event, and we are grateful for the swift response from the Marana Police Department and Northwest Fire District.”

The FAA and NTSB are investigating the incident with the NTSB leading the investigation. The Marana Regional Airport is temporarily closed as the investigation continues. 

The Marana Regional Airport is an uncontrolled field, meaning it does not have an operating air traffic control tower and pilots utilize a Common Traffic Advisory Frequency to announce their position to other pilots who are in the vicinity.

The collision Wednesday follows a string of several other aircraft crashes including a Delta Air Lines plane that flipped upside down while landing Monday in Toronto, a fatal medical jet crash in Philadelphia on Jan. 31 and the midair collision between an Army helicopter and a commercial airplane in Washington, D.C., that killed 67 people.