Gina Heslop
On Wednesday morning, a tragic mid-air collision occurred at Marana Regional Airport in Arizona. Two planes, a Cessna 172S and a Lancair 360 MK II, crashed while flying “upwind of runway 12.”
The crash resulted in the deaths of at least two passengers. The accident took place around 8:29 a.m. local time, and a large plume of black smoke was seen over the airport and surrounding areas.
One of the planes was completely destroyed, leaving only ashes and debris near the runway. The other plane, however, managed to land safely. There were two people on each plane, but the conditions of the surviving passengers were not immediately clear.
The Marana Regional Airport, located near Tucson, is classified as an “uncontrolled” airport by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). This means it does not have an operational air traffic control tower.
The airport is a general aviation reliever for Tucson International Airport and handles over 90,000 takeoffs and landings annually with more than 260 based aircraft. After the crash, the airport was immediately shut down. The airport has plans to build an air traffic control tower by 2027, which could improve safety.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating the crash, along with several other recent aviation incidents. In fact, this accident is just the latest in a series of crashes that have raised concerns within the U.S. aviation community.
Just days before, a Delta airliner crashed at Toronto Pearson International Airport. The plane flipped upside down on an icy runway and caught fire. Thankfully, while 80 passengers were left hanging upside down, no lives were lost, although many were injured.
Another incident involved a private jet owned by Vince Neil, the lead singer of Mötley Crüe. The jet skidded off a runway at Scottsdale Airport, Arizona, and collided with another plane. The accident resulted in the death of the pilot and hospitalization of Neil’s girlfriend.
In a separate tragedy, a small plane carrying ten people disappeared off the coast of Alaska on February 7. The plane crashed 34 miles southeast of Nome, Alaska, and all ten passengers were found dead.
On January 31, a six-person air ambulance crashed into a residential area in Pennsylvania. The crash killed all six passengers and one person on the ground, including a young girl returning to Tijuana, Mexico, after a life-saving surgery.
The recent spate of accidents also includes a major crash on January 29. An American Airlines flight collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter over Reagan International Airport, resulting in the deaths of all 67 people on board both aircraft. This incident is considered one of the worst aviation disasters in recent U.S. history.
In 2023 alone, there were over 1,000 small aircraft crashes in the U.S. While not all crashes lead to fatalities, the frequency of these accidents has alarmed aviation experts and the public.
The NTSB is actively investigating these incidents to find ways to improve aviation safety and prevent further tragedies.
