1 dead, 1 hospitalized after aircraft crashes in Gila Bend

by Kit Silavong, Zach Prelutsky | Arizona’s Family, Mar. 17, 2024

GILA BEND, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) — One person has died, and another is seriously injured after an aircraft crashed Sunday morning in Gila Bend.

A Maricopa County Sheriff’s spokesperson said emergency crews were called to the Gila Bend Municipal Airport, near state Route 85 and Maricopa Road.

The FAA said it was an experimental aircraft that crashed around 9:40 a.m. and that only two people were scheduled to be onboard the aircraft. One person died at the scene, while the other person was airlifted to a hospital with serious injuries.

Information is limited, and the NTSB will investigate what led to the crash of the Experimental Amateur Built Air Creation Twin aircraft.

NTSB investigating the March 17 crash of an Experimental Amateur Built Air Creation Twin aircraft near Gila Bend, Arizona.

— NTSB Newsroom (@NTSB_Newsroom) March 17, 2024

Jack Norris is the owner of AZ Aeroservices, which sells experimental aircraft kits. He says this particular aircraft is a “motorcycle with wings.”

“You can still buy these in a kit but they are more susceptible to weather patterns and what’s happening and the skill of the pilot might not be anywhere near the same,” he said.

Norris says the weather and pilot experience are important components to consider when piloting an Air Creation Twin.

This is the second “experimental” aircraft to crash this year. The term “experimental” is a misnomer, according to the Experimental Aircraft Association. “It refers to the FAA category in which the airplane is registered, not the exclusivity or the use of the airplane,” according to the association’s website. In this case, the aircraft are amateur or home-built and not military prototypes.

An investigator with the NTSB is expected to be at the Gila Bend Municipal Airport on Monday.

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