Six confirmed dead in Arizona plane crash

Three men and three young children have died after a light plane slammed into a sheer cliff in the Superstition Mountains in the US state of Arizona.

The plane was travelling at around 200mph when it crashed into the 5,000 ft high peaks east of Phoenix.

The body of one child was recovered. Search and rescue personnel are working to recover the remains of the other victims.

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu says the dead include the pilot and his three children, two boys and a girl aged five to nine.

The father lived in Safford in south-eastern Arizona and owned a small aviation business there.

He flew to the Phoenix suburb of Mesa on Wednesday with another pilot who co-owned the company and a company mechanic to pick up his children for the Thanksgiving holiday.

The mother is also a pilot and lives in Mesa.