WILLIAMS, Ariz. — A plane crashed in a field shortly after taking off from H.A. Clark Memorial Air Field in Williams, Arizona Tuesday, killing all three people on board.
Video from the crash site shows the Piper fixed-wing, single-engine plane hit the ground and broke into several pieces. All three people on board died at the scene.
One of the victims has been identified as 44-year-old Christopher Evans, a resident of La Mesa.
Also killed, was 31-year-old Hyemoon Kim of South Korea. Officials are still trying to identify the third person. At this point, investigators believe Kim was piloting the plane.
It happened in the city of Williams, about 35 miles west of Flagstaff. According to a news release from the Williams Police Department, the plane refueled at the airport and then took off just after noon.
Within moments, witnesses described hearing the plane operating at low or no power. It then turned back toward the airport, but didn't make it. The crash happened about a mile from the runway.
Records show the plane is owned by First Flight, which operates out of a building at Brown Field. An employee said she was aware of the crash, but that no one there would comment. She deferred all questions to investigators.
After leaving Brown Field Sunday evening, the plane flew to Las Vegas. It made four more flights before the fatal crash - including flying from Las Vegas to Williams Tuesday morning.
Both the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration are looking into why it happened. At this point, the FAA is only saying that “the aircraft crashed for unknown reasons on departure.”
No one on the ground was injured.