Arizona Golf Course Plane Crash – 4-9-2018

Incident report:

• Date: April 9, 2018
• Location: TPC Scottsdale Golf Course, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA
• Airline: Private
• Type of Aircraft: Piper PA-24-260
• Type of Incident: Crash following takeoff
• Total Passengers: 6
• Fatalities: All 6 passengers
• Injuries: 0 reported

Police say those six were the only people on board the Piper PA24 plane. The crash was located just north of the Scottsdale Airport. The plane went down around 9:00 p.m.

The FAA says the aircraft crashed and caught fire just after takeoff. “At this point in the investigation we can confirm that the flight originated from the Scottsdale airport and crashed shortly after takeoff,” the department said in a statement. “None of the six passengers aboard the aircraft survived.”

The pilot has been identified by friends as 28-year-old James Pedroza from Las Vegas. His last call to air traffic control showed no signs of any problems.

“Are you experiencing any difficulty?” air traffic control asked.

“Uh, we’re good just a training lesson (inaudible),” he said.

The plane crashed right after that call.

Two additional victims have been identified by family members as Mariah Coogan from Santa Rosa, California and 26-year-old Anand Patel, an entrepreneur living in Los Angeles.

The NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) is investigating the incident.