Four people died after a medical transport plane crashed and caught fire yesterday.
The victims were all medical personnel who were on their way to a hospital to pick up a patient, it has been confirmed. The Beechcraft 300 crashed on approach to land at an airport near Chinle in Arizona, US.
Police said “something went wrong” as the aircraft tried to arrive at the base in the Navajo Nation, an American Indian reservation of land. The reservation, governed by a Native American tribal nation, expressed its sadness at the tragedy, which follows a medical transport plane crash in Philadelphia earlier this year.
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Navajo Police Department)
Federal Aviation Administration officials the cause of the crash in Arizona is not yet known. District Police Commander Emmett Yazzie said: “They were trying to land there and unfortunately something went wrong.” He confirmed the crew was planning to pick up a patient from Chinle Hospital, a small facility with around 60 beds.
But District Police Commander Yazzie declined to offer other details about the crash, saying he was waiting on federal investigators. The National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA are investigating.
Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren said in a social media post that he was heartbroken to learn of the crash. He said: “These were people who dedicated their lives to saving others, and their loss is felt deeply across the Navajo Nation.”
Eight people died in the crash in Philadelphia earlier this year. The National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the crash, has said the voice recorder on that plane was not working. Nurses at hospital had thrown a party for the six-year-old patient hours before she died in the air disaster.
And last month, three people died after a small plane crashed off the California coast of Monterey County. The twin-engine Beechcraft, which originally took off from San Carlos airport and had three people on board, crashed approximately 200 to 300 yards off of Point Pinos.
A USCG helicopter, three Cal Fire rescue boats, and personnel from the Pacific Grove Police Department, Monterey County Sheriff’s Office, San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office, and Monterey Fire Department were among the multi-agency rescue effort.
Flares flying into the air from the area around the plane disaster were seen in harrowing footage. The crash’s debris washed up on the shore and on rocks. An oxygen tank and pieces of metal which ended up down the coast were captured on camera during the tragic incident.
