Su-Su
A World War II-era plane has crashed at Stellar Airpark in Chandler, killing at least one person and prompting an evacuation of parts of the airpark.
The plane, a P-51D Mustang, crashed into a hangar at the airpark, located at the southwest corner of Chandler Boulevard and McClintock Drive, about 1:20 p.m., said Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor. The circumstances of the crash weren’t known, but FAA investigators were on their way to the airport Thursday afternoon.
The plane was registered to Hirani Oil Arizona, which appears to be a sales and property management company in Chandler.
ABC15.com reported that one person died at the scene.
Bob Gottlieb, who owns some hangars on the property, told the Tribune that the deceased pilot was a close friend.
He declined to disclose the man’s name, saying he wanted to leave it up to the family.
He said the wreck happened on the east side of the runway.
Gottlieb said he saw the plain cartwheel into the building and explode.
“He was killed instantly,” he said.
“Unfortunately, his wife had to watch the whole thing,” he added later. He didn’t say why the man’s wife was on site.
Gottlieb said the pilot was very capable and described the accident as the result of a chain of events that were out of the man’s control.
“There was no distress call,” he said. “It was a normal landing. The airplane just got away on landing. So he wasn’t in distress. There was no emergency, there was no mechanical failure. This is just one of those freak accidents. It’s conducive to the type of aircraft that he was flying."
The plane and at least one hangar were on fire. Chandler police said hangars in the area were being evacuated.
Marisela Garcia, an employee at Coliman Pacific Corp. at the airpark, said she heard the craft going overhead sounding as if it was going to crash into her building.
The next thing she saw was the huge column of black smoke.
“It was really, really bad,” she said.
Judy Stoffers, an employee at Westcoast BOP Products, said she too saw the smoke and said there were a lot of police and fire crews running around.
One Tribune employee’s husband who works about a quarter of a mile from the airpark said a small amount of smoke was visible immediately after the crash, but quickly dissipated.
