A small, private aircraft crashed at the Tucson International Airport Friday morning just as it was taking off for a flight to the White Mountains.
Two of the plane’s four passengers were taken to University Medical Center with minor injuries. There were no fatalities.
Tucson Airport Authority officials identified the owner and pilot of the Piper Twin Comanche aircraft as Alan W. Muhs, 58, of Tucson.
Officials did not release the names of the three passengers.
An investigation into what caused the crash has just begun, said Joshua Cawthra, aviation accident investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, which is handling the investigation.
Initial reports — based on an interview with the pilot, among other sources — show the plane took off from the airport’s main runway shortly after 9 a.m. It was about 20 to 30 feet in the air when it rolled to the left and then crashed, Cawthra said.
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It’s unclear where the plane made impact, but when police, fire and national guard officers arrived on the scene they found the mangled plane nose up in a median between runways. After they rescued the passengers, the nose then crashed to the ground.
On Friday, an NTSB investigator based in Scottsdale was headed to Tucson to begin an investigation, Cawthra said.
The investigator will document evidence, mark ground scars and catalogue wreckage disbursement.
The items will be taken to Phoenix where Cawthra will review them.
An initial report will be posted on the NTSB’s Web site, www.ntsb.gov, within five or six days, Cawthra said.
From there it will take another six months to a year to complete the crash investigation and publish a full report. A probable cause report will then be published six to eights weeks later.
“We have quite a bit of work to do on it,” Cawthra said.
The flight tracking Web site www.FlightAware.com shows Muhs’ plane traveled from Show Low to Yuma on Wednesday, completing the flight in about 90 minutes. But it does not show any flight information regarding the plane’s return to Tucson or its scheduled flight for the White Mountains.
The crash closed the main runway for about an hour, although it did not disrupt any flights, Tucson Airport Authority spokeswoman Viki Matthews said.
Rescue workers with Tucson Fire Department, the Air National Guard and the Tucson Airport Authority’s police department rushed to the scene after reports of the crash.
By the time reporters were allowed on the runway, however, most of those responders had left. All that remained was the mangled plane, planted face down in a median between runways with a bit of debris scattered about.
