Five dead when small plane crashes through Arizona airport fence and hits car

Five people, including a child, were killed Tuesday afternoon when a small plane crashed through a fence and hit a car while its takeoff at an Arizona airport was aborted, officials said.

According to the National Transportation Safety Board, the Honda HA-420 plane crashed at Falcon Field Airport in Mesa, a city about 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of Phoenix, around 4:40 p.m.

“Preliminary information indicates that the aircraft struck the airport fence and a passenger vehicle during an aborted takeoff,” the NTSB said in an emailed statement to CNN on Wednesday morning.

Five people were killed in the crash, according to Marrisa Ramirez-Ramos, a spokesperson for the Mesa Fire and Medical Department.

“Five people were aboard the aircraft,” the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement to CNN. “The aircraft struck a vehicle outside the airport grounds.”

Four people on the plane died at the scene, according to Mesa police.

They were identified as Spencer Lindahl, 43, Rustin Randall, 48, Drew Kimball, 44, and Graham Kimball, 12, all of Arizona. The fifth person survived the crash and is in hospital with burns, police said.

The driver of the vehicle involved in the crash also died, but police are withholding the person’s name pending official confirmation of his identity.

The plane crashed through a metal fence and “some concrete walls,” said a witness, Joshua Golabi CNN affiliate KPNX.

Golabi, a pilot himself, said he did not see the impact of the crash, but heard it.

“We were just about to board our plane when we heard a bang and saw a plume of smoke,” Golabi said.

The plane was at one point consumed by flames, KPNX reports.

“It’s just very shocking and it reminds all pilots to always fly and maneuver as safely as possible,” Golabi said.

The NTSB is leading the investigation into the crash, a spokesperson said.

CNN’s Sara Finch and Cindy Von Quednow contributed to this report.

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