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Plane Crashes in Arizona Mountains

At least 6 feared dead in Superstition Mountains crash

By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff

Posted Nov 23, 2011 11:09 PM CST | Updated Nov 24, 2011 5:42 AM CST

(Newser) – A small plane crashed into Arizona's Superstition Mountains Wednesday night and authorities believe all six people aboard, three adults and three children, were killed, the AP reports. Rescue crews flown in by helicopter had to hike their way to the crash site, which lies in rugged terrain around 40 miles east of Phoenix. The body of one child has been recovered and there is no sign of survivors, authorities say.

"The fuselage is stuck down into some of the crevices of this rough terrain, and we're doing our best at this point in the darkness," the county sheriff says. "This is not a flat area, this is jagged peaks, almost like a cliff-type rugged terrain. Witnesses say that before the crash, they heard a plane apparently trying to rev its engines to climb higher. "Somebody didn't know the mountain was there or they had false readings," one witness tells CNN.

A floodlight shines on a fire from a small plane crash in the Superstition Mountains in Apache Junction east of Phoenix.
A floodlight shines on a fire from a small plane crash in the Superstition Mountains in Apache Junction east of Phoenix.   (AP Photo/The Arizona Republic, Michael Schennum)
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The crash was caught on webcam.   (boseefus00001)

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COMMENTS
Showing 2 of 14 comments
Deleted
Nov 24, 2011 7:06 AM CST
Arizona has mountains all over the place.  Not a great place to fly at night.  I have landed twice in Arizona just as the sun set and I was grateful my arrival was not any later.
NutsInNY
Nov 24, 2011 12:15 AM CST
Speaking of crashing and burning (apologies for that)... Our nominal troll, Barack_Must_Go, has posted no comments since Tues, and since early Wed he's changed his name to Nuwser_Sucks_Cock. See here: http://www.newser.com/user/83572204/1/nuwser-sucks-cock.html Ugh. Far from gloating, I rather wish he could change courses and do the minimal work necessary to fit in with the rest of us misfits on Newser. All of us here need to strive to be more gracious, more polite, more accepting, and more generous with our fellow humans. Those are the qualities of *real Americans* that should be put on a pedestal---albeit they're qualities that most of us only occasionally get a glimpse of on our best days---myself included. The lesson here isn't that ganging up on someone works, rather that we are all far from perfect.
 

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