The National Transportation Safety Board has disclosed a preliminary report on a fatal accident at Falcon Field Airport that claimed the lives of five individuals, including a pedestrian. The report, issued on Tuesday, revealed that the airplane, upon attempting to take off for a scheduled flight to Provo, Utah, failed to gain altitude and subsequently crashed into a nearby fence before crossing Greenfield Road in Mesa and striking a car. FOX 10 Phoenix reported that the NTSB found no mechanical malfunctions during their comprehensive investigation of the plane.
Further details emerged from the report on the November crash as gathered by ABC15, which disclosed that the plane, bound for a college basketball game, was seen on security footage accelerating along the runway and reaching speeds of about 130 knots before beginning to slow. It then made contact with an airport perimeter fence located approximately 600 feet beyond the runway's end and continued across the roadway.
The identities of the deceased were released by Mesa police, with the occupants of the plane identified as 43-year-old Spencer Lindahl, 48-year-old Rustin Randall, 44-year-old Drew Kimball, and 12-year-old Graham Kimball. An interview by ABC15 with the family of Ray Longhi, the driver killed in the accident, shared their grief and loss in the days following the tragedy.
