Five people, including a 12-year-old boy, were killed when a small business jet caught fire near a suburban Phoenix airport, authorities said Wednesday.
Preliminary information shows that the six-passenger HondaJet HA-420 aircraft was bound for Provo, Utah, but aborted its takeoff at Mesa Falcon Field Airport on Tuesday afternoon. The plane crashed through the airport’s metal fence before colliding with a vehicle traveling on a road west of the airport, authorities said.
It was unclear why the plane was unable to take off. The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation with assistance from the Federal Aviation Administration and Mesa authorities.
Mesa police said Wednesday that four of the five passengers on the plane died at the scene. The unidentified pilot was taken to hospital with severe burns.
Those on the plane included 12-year-old Graham Kimball and his 44-year-old father, Drew Kimball. The other two victims were Rustin Randall, 48, and Spencer Lindahl, 43, both managers of Ice Man Holdings LLC in Mesa.
The driver of the vehicle also died on the spot. Authorities are withholding the person’s name pending identification.
