Fiery plane crash at north Phoenix airport kills pilot; craft slams into building

1 dead after small plane crashes in north Phoenix

PHOENIX — Phoenix police say one person has been killed after a small plane crashed outside Deer Valley Airport in north Phoenix. The victim was the plane’s pilot.

Phoenix police spokesman Detective James Holmes tells The Associated Press the plane had taken off from Deer Valley Airport around 6 a.m. Wednesday.

Witnesses told police the plane took off to the east, circled around to the south of the airport and was heading north. Holmes says witnesses heard the plane’s engine sputter before it crashed.

Holmes says it appears the plane struck a brick wall and then hit a building northwest of the airport.

Earlier, bright, orange flames and clouds of smoke were pouring from the wreckage before Phoenix fire crews arrived on scene and extinguished the flames.

Holmes says the plane is a bundle of charred and blackened metal.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

PHOENIX (AP) — Phoenix fire crews are at the scene of a plane crash near Deer Valley Airport in north Phoenix.

Crews sprayed water on the smoldering wreckage of what appears to be a small airplane.

A helicopter pilot for various Phoenix television stations says he saw the plane crash around 6 a.m. Wednesday. The plane burst into flames and produced a cloud of smoke that could be seen miles away.

The wreckage is smoking and is crumpled up against a building in an industrial area around the airport.

There’s no confirmation yet whether anyone was injured or killed. Calls to the Federal Aviation Administration and the Phoenix Fire Department weren’t immediately returned.