Re: What\'s up at Phoenix-Falcon Field
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Phoenix paramedic, son hurt in Mesa plane crash
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Jessica Wanke
The Arizona Republic
Oct. 21, 2003 12:00 AM
A small plane crashed while attempting to land at Falcon Field on Monday afternoon in Mesa, injuring a father and son.
Witnesses said it looked as if the plane stalled in the air shortly after taking off, according to Capt. Ivard Brimley of the Mesa Fire Department.
The plane, headed to Chandler Airpark to pick up airplane parts, called in an emergency and turned to return to Falcon Field.
After the crash, the passengers had to be removed from the craft by firefighters. Scott Crosby, 50, and Connor Crosby, 31, were flown to Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn hospital with severe face and back injuries.
Scott is a Mesa resident and is a Phoenix Fire Department captain/paramedic with more than 20 years of service.
"At this point, none of the injuries appear to be life-threatening," Brimley said Monday evening. "Their injuries are such that they will probably be there (in the trauma center) for a while."
The plane was identified as a 1968 Piper Cherokee, according to 12 News.
It crashed into a retention basin, an area for water runoff, near the landing strip around 4 p.m. There was no water in the basin.
Falcon Field is owned and operated by Mesa. It is seven miles northeast of the city's downtown.
The airport is the home base for more than 900 aircraft.
Through the first nine months of the year, 198,697 flights have taken off and landed at Falcon Field.
This is the first serious crash at the field in recent memory, said Vicki Kerr, a Falcon Field management assistant.
"We have incidents periodically where an aircraft blows a tire. This is certainly a higher magnitude than we're used to," Kerr said.
A Mesa Police Department reconstruction team was working Monday night to understand how the crash occurred.
Reach the reporter at
jessica.wanke@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-7952.
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