The occupants of a commuter plane that crashed into a residential neighborhood shortly after taking off from Phoenix Deer Valley Airport could tell something was wrong with the plane’s engine.
One of the plane’s pilots noted the Piper-PA-28’s engine troubles with an air-traffic controller, according to an audio recording obtained through LiveATC.net of communications before the March 4 crash.
“We’re gonna come back in,” one of the pilots can be heard telling the air-traffic controller. “We’re having some engine trouble. We haven’t lost our engine, but we have low RPM.”
The air-traffic controller appears to have trouble making out what was said as two people called on two different frequencies.
The pilot clarifies their request to land on one of the airport’s runways. The air-traffic controller asks the occupant to describe the emergency, to which the occupant notes the engine’s low RPM while stating “it’s not really an emergency, but we can’t make it back to the field.”
The air-traffic controller appears to tell the pilot they can land on one of two runways and a truck — presumably from the fire department — will respond to the area as a precaution.
The air-traffic control operator appears to ask the pilot of another plane whether they can see the Piper-PA-28 approaching from the east, to which the pilot says they cannot. The controller later says she lost communications with the plane and asks others to check the surrounding area to see if the plane landed on a road.
A pilot tells the operator they heard on a police frequency that the plane may have crashed in a neighborhood near Parkside Lane and later confirms that the plane crashed into a house while noting police and fire appeared to be responding.
Some injuries serious but not fatal
Authorities discovered the plane hit two homes before stopping in the backyard of one, according to Phoenix fire spokesperson Capt. Todd Keller. The crash happened about 7:20 a.m. near Cave Creek Road and Deer Valley Drive, according to Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson Chris Mullooly.
A baby’s bedroom was hit, but the baby was not in the room when the crash happened, Keller said. Residents from each home were displaced, and the American Red Cross was on the scene to help them, Keller added.
A resident of the first house that was hit and the plane’s two occupants ― an instructor and a student pilot ― were taken to the hospital but were in stable condition, Keller said. By the afternoon, the student pilot was released, and the instructor was being monitored because he had some fractured bones, according to Wayne Dickert, the plane’s owner.
The names of those injured have not been released.
Crash displaces 4 people
A wing of the plane was visible on the tile roof of one of the homes, and hazmat crews were working to clear insulation from the attic, Keller said. Workers in yellow helmets stood in the driveway of the home, and a large yellow tube was laid out into the garage. A ladder also leaned against the front of the home.
“We do have fuel leaking into that attic right now,” Keller said, noting the fuel had created a fire hazard. Phoenix police warned people in a social media post to avoid the area because of the fuel spill.
The four people who had to leave their homes went to their neighbors’ following the crash, said Red Cross spokesperson Georgi Donchetz.
Peter Knudson, spokesperson for the National Transportation Safety Board, confirmed in an email that the pilot told air traffic control that the plane was returning to the airport, and the crash occurred during the attempted return.
The NTSB’s preliminary report on the crash is expected to become available within 30 days from the crash. It can take one to two years before the final report is available.
Republic staff Julie Mendes, Stephanie Murray and Elena Santa Cruz contributed to this article.