Six feared dead in US mountain air crash

Six people, including three children, were feared dead after a plane crash in Arizona’s Superstition Mountains today.

The body of a child was later recovered from the scene of the crash east of Phoenix, which involved a light aircraft with three adults and three children on board. Authorities said there was no sign of survivors.

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu said preliminary reports indicated the twin-engine plane flew from Safford to Mesa’s Falcon Field to pick up three children for the Thanksgiving holiday. The children were reportedly aged five to nine.

He said a pilot, a mechanic and another adult were also on board.

A sheriff’s spokesman said one child’s body was recovered today but additional information was not immediately available.

The names of the six people aboard have not been released.

Sheriff’s spokesman Elias Johnson said the body of one child was recovered late last night from the crash scene.

Rescue personnel were using infrared devices to search for bodies, but had not been able to detect any sign of movement, according to Mr Johnson.

“It does not look promising,” Mr Babeu said at a news conference. “We will search throughout the night.”

Authorities started getting calls after a mushroom-like explosion near the peak of a mountain, 40 miles east of downtown Phoenix. Flames could still be seen hours after the crash.

Rescue crews flown in by helicopter to reach the crash site in rugged terrain reported finding two debris fields on fire, suggesting that the plane broke apart on impact.

“The fuselage is stuck down into some of the crevices of this rough terrain, and we’re doing our best at this point in the darkness,” Mr Babeu said. “This is not a flat area, this is jagged peaks, almost like a cliff-type rugged terrain.”

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer said the Rockwell AC-69 was registered to Ponderosa Aviation in Safford.

Some witnesses told Phoenix-area television stations they heard a plane trying to rev its engines to climb higher before apparently hitting the mountains. The elevation is about 5,000 feet at the Superstition Mountains’ highest point.

Mr Kenitzer said the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board would be investigating the cause of the crash.

Video showed several fires burning on the mountainside, where heavy brush is common.

The region near Lost Dutchman State Park and the Superstition Wilderness is filled with steep canyons, soaring rocky outcroppings and cactus. Treasure hunters who frequent the area have been looking for the legendary Lost Dutchman mine for more than a century.