A six-seat plane carrying nine Utah residents crashed in the desert after the pilot reported the plane was icing up, injuring everyone aboard, including five children, authorities said Monday.
The single-engine Beechcraft 36 belly-landed Sunday evening about 12 miles east of Florence, the Pinal County seat located about 60 miles southeast of Phoenix.The plane was on a flight from Heber City to an overnight stop in Tucson. The ultimate destination was Mazatlan, Mexico, where the two families on the plane planned to vacation for a week, said passenger Helen Hall.
Hall was in good condition at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center. She said she had head lacerations, a broken rib and possible back and neck injuries.
The pilot, Doug Wagstaff, 47, of Heber City, and Hall's husband, Randy Hall, age unavailable, were in serious but stable condition at Scottsdale (Ariz.) Memorial Hospital-Osborn with multiple injuries, authorities said.
Julie Wagstaff, 41, wife of Doug Wagstaff, and five children of the two couples, ages 6 months to 20 years, were treated at Central Arizona Medical Center in Florence.