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VIRGIN RIVER GORGE, Mohave County, Ariz. — An aircraft crashed Sunday in the Virgin River Gorge area of the Utah-Arizona border, according to the Arizona Department of Public Safety.
Arizona Department of Public Safety confirmed they received reports of a plane similar to a Cessna going down in the gorge around 7:30 p.m. MST, according to Sgt. John T. Bottoms.
"(The pilot) slammed his right wing into the ledge and landed nose first, upside down," witness Brandon Zgadzaj said.
Zgadzaj said he climbed down into the river and up to where the plane crashed.
"A person was trapped under the engine and (we) could not locate another person at the time. A piece to the nose was about 100 feet from the rest of the crash and was mangled."
Sgt. Bottoms said the plane was on a ledge and that crews had to go to the end of the gorge and hike approximately 200 yards to the plane. They used water backpacks to extinguish the fire, he said.
Bottoms confirmed two people died but was unable to confirm their ages, gender, or where they were from.
A second plane crashed earlier Sunday near Sedona, Arizona, killing four people. The crash also started a fire in the Red Rock Secret Mountain Wilderness area of Fay Canyon, according to a release by Coconino National Forest.
It is unknown if the two crashes are related.
More details will be posted when available.
