The pilot and passenger in a small, single-engine plane died following a crash at Santa Fe Regional Airport
While practicing touch-and-go landings, the light sport aircraft (LSA) impacted the terrain at Santa Fe Municipal Airport (KSAF), Santa Fe, New Mexico. The airplane was partially consumed by the post-impact fire and the two occupants onboard received fatal injuries.
City officials said occupants of the aircraft, whose identities were not immediately made public, were practicing landing techniques when the plane crashed and burned on airport property shortly after 3:30 p.m.
“They were practicing, doing touch-and-goes,” airport manager Mark Baca said in a phone interview. “They were practicing landing. You come in, touch down and take off.”
The two-seater aircraft was destroyed by fire, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said.
#NMSP #planecrash 2 Fatalities confirmed. Investigators locate second person deceased in plane wreckage in Santa Fe. FAA enroute to scene. No other info currently available. https://t.co/wT9OvLS81K
— NMSP (@NMStatePolice) April 9, 2019
Santa Fe Fire Department assistant Chief Carlos Nava told The New Mexican that members of a crash rescue unit stationed at the airport responded to the incident, which occurred on a secondary runway just south of a National Guard complex.
FAA investigators are on their way to the crash site and the National Transportation Safety Board has been notified and will be in charge of the investigation.
