4 killed in med transport plane crash ARIZONA

FPK1

FPK1

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Four people were killed Tuesday when a medical transport plane crashed on Navajo Nation land in Arizona, according to tribal police.

“The small aircraft was en route to pick up a patient from a nearby hospital, when the crash occurred,” Navajo Nation Police said.

The accident took place around 12:40 p.m. near Chinle, Arizona, according to police...

 
If the details are correct and it was a Beech 300 (a king air); isn't it kind of odd that it crashed like that in what appears to be (from the photo) a flat field?
Seems like an unlikely plane to have a catastrophic crash in the middle of flat-ish ground.
 
Looks like it crashed on the runway. You can see edge lights on both sides.
IMG_1530.png
 
Rockymountain said:
Looks like it crashed on the runway. You can see edge lights on both sides.
View attachment 143699
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That’s not the runway, that’s an access road parallel to but almost 1000’ away from the runway. Looking south. Wind was pretty strong out of the west. No AWOS there, but Window Rock is 50NM away:

KRQE 051753Z AUTO 28017G28KT 10SM CLR 31/M01 A3039 RMK AO2 PK WND 28028/1747 SLP149 T03061006 10306 20128 50001

Everything in central AZ was gusty southwest to westerly winds at the time.

They few in from the ENE and appeared to approach Chinle from the south, but no ADS-B data near the airport. Runway at Chinle is 18/36.
 
Flying Keys said:
That’s not the runway, that’s an access road parallel to but almost 1000’ away from the runway. Looking south. Wind was pretty strong out of the west. No AWOS there, but Window Rock is 50NM away:

KRQE 051753Z AUTO 28017G28KT 10SM CLR 31/M01 A3039 RMK AO2 PK WND 28028/1747 SLP149 T03061006 10306 20128 50001

Everything in central AZ was gusty southwest to westerly winds at the time.

They few in from the ENE and appeared to approach Chinle from the south, but no ADS-B data near the airport. Runway at Chinle is 18/36.
Click to expand...
And the track appears roughly perpendicular to the road. Loss of control on landing?
 
Flying Keys said:
That’s not the runway, that’s an access road parallel to but almost 1000’ away from the runway.
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Thanks for the clarification. I was thrown off by these, which looked like runway lights like you see on some private runways. Thought it looked pretty small for a KA300, but then that is what TP's are made for.

Atten (2).jpg
 
Many moons ago a Guardian Air Ambulace KA 200 hit a cow at Tuba City, AZ & all hands died. IT was alleged that the farmer (this is desert, you know) upon hearing propellor blades, let his cows out to graze and was reimbursed at FULL market rate. Guardian refused going forward to serve Tuba City. It's crazy out there.
 
MauleSkinner said:
And the track appears roughly perpendicular to the road. Loss of control on landing?
Click to expand...
The only track I could see ends several miles southeast of the airport (that access road is just to the northwest). My guess is it dipped below ADS-B reception coverage at that point. I haven’t seen any indication of what happened during the landing phase other than the outcome.
 
Flying Keys said:
The only track I could see ends several miles southeast of the airport - my guess is it dipped below ADS-B reception coverage at that point. I haven’t seen any indication of what happened during the landing phase other than the outcome.
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I’m referring to the track on the ground leading up to the debris in the picture.
 
bbchien said:
Many moons ago a Guardian Air Ambulace KA 200 hit a cow at Tuba City, AZ & all hands died. IT was alleged that the farmer (this is desert, you know) upon hearing propellor blades, let his cows out to graze and was reimbursed at FULL market rate. Guardian refused going forward to serve Tuba City. It's crazy out there.
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That doesn’t make sense. He let a cow get killed when it still had weight to gain, which would’ve boosted the price at market? Was he right there herding them onto the runway to make sure the plane would hit one? Plus it probably took months or years for the aircraft’s insurer to settle.

What’s more likely is that it was open range and it was just an accident, and the company declined to fly there unless the airfield was secured by fencing.
 
bbchien said:
Many moons ago a Guardian Air Ambulace KA 200 hit a cow at Tuba City, AZ & all hands died. IT was alleged that the farmer (this is desert, you know) upon hearing propellor blades, let his cows out to graze and was reimbursed at FULL market rate. Guardian refused going forward to serve Tuba City. It's crazy out there.
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When I was a kid in the early to mid 60s, my family moved between Albuquerque and Holbrook, depending on the number of BIA projects my Dad's company was building.

It wasn't unusual for a cow to be struck by a 18 wheeler on Route 66. There were credible allegations the animals were chased onto the roadway by its owners to collect insurance payouts.
 
3393RP said:
It wasn't unusual for a cow to be struck by a 18 wheeler on Route 66. There were credible allegations the animals were chased onto the roadway by its owners to collect insurance payouts.
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Here in Gallup I heard stories about how local indigenous personnel would herd sheep onto the road to get hit by a car, then demand cash for the animal, then have a bar-b-q.

Until folks would pay for the dead sheep, then load it up and take it home.
 
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