Westwind family loses 3 members today (5/13)

Av8rPHX

Av8rPHX

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Westwind has had one of their Piper Seminoles crash this morning west of Deer Valley. There were 3 souls on board. May they rest in peace.

Three killed in early morning plane crash

02:13 PM Mountain Standard Time on Thursday, May 13, 2004

By azfamily.com Staff

Three me were killed Thursday morning when their small twin-engine plane went down near the town of Wittmann.
Ryan Waterland, a 20-year-old flight instructor from Phoenix, student pilot Nicholas L. Swanson, 22, of Mesa and passenger, Brian A. Thompson, 24, of Phoenix were all killed when the 1998 Piper Seminole owned by Westwind Aviation Deer Valley Airport crashed near 203rd Avenue and Dove Valley Road.
The wreckage was discovered near an auto-proving ground. According to J.J. Tuttle of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, they received a call about 7:30 a.m. from a person who reported seeing a plane spiraling out of control. The witness said he heard an explosion but did not see any fire.
At this point, it's not clear what caused the plane to go down, and according to Tuttle, investigators do not yet know where the plane was coming from or where it was headed.
The investigation is ongoing. The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board have been called in.
 
This is a very tragic event. I recognize all their names but can't connect a face to it. Today's crash, combined with the Pan Am one a few days ago, makes for a bad week for all of us at Deer Valley. These kind of things really make you look at life in a different way. My prayers go out to friends and family of all five killed this week.
 
Sorry to hear about your guys' loss. Hopefully everybody will be able to learn something out of each accident so that its not a total loss. Keep flyin.
 
I didn't know any of them too well...but I've dealt with all of them at one time or another at the school. May they rest in peace...
 
[ QUOTE ]
Ryan Waterland, a 20-year-old flight instructor from Phoenix, student pilot Nicholas L. Swanson, 22, of Mesa and passenger, Brian A. Thompson, 24, of Phoenix were all killed

[/ QUOTE ]
All so young!!
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God bless.
 
As a neighbor, I am sorry to see this happen to us. Both our schools do so much to teach safety, yet these things still happen. My prayers go out to all who know the three involved, as well as their families.

LC
 
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