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4 killed when plane hits Arizona school
EAGAR, Ariz., (UPI) -- Friends said Sunday they believe four members of a Florida family on their way to a Grand Canyon vacation died when their small plane hit an Arizona school.
WTVT-TV in Tampa, Fla., reported the plane that crashed about 2 p.m. Friday in Eagar, Ariz., was registered to Jeffrey Ulrich off Wesley Chapel, Fla., and that friends and relatives said they believe he, his wife and their two daughters were on board.
The family had taken off from Springerville Municipal Airport before crashing about 3 miles away, the TV station said. Investigators said no distress call had been received from the aircraft.
National Transportation Safety Board investigator Joshua Cawthra told WTVT Sunday the agency has confirmed all four people on board the aircraft were killed. The wreckage was being removed to a site in Phoenix for investigation.
"(There is) a big mess inside, a lot of debris -- imagine the entire roof structure of the high school collapsing onto the floor," Cawthra said.
No one was in Round Valley High School at the time of the fiery crash, but The Arizona Republic reported the plane, believed to be a Piper Cherokee, hit the building just after state Treasurer Dean Martin and others had left.
"We were about a city block away when we saw it in the rear-view mirror," said Martin, who is running for governor.
It took firefighters until about 6:30 p.m. to extinguish the fire caused by the crash.
EAGAR, Ariz., (UPI) -- Friends said Sunday they believe four members of a Florida family on their way to a Grand Canyon vacation died when their small plane hit an Arizona school.
WTVT-TV in Tampa, Fla., reported the plane that crashed about 2 p.m. Friday in Eagar, Ariz., was registered to Jeffrey Ulrich off Wesley Chapel, Fla., and that friends and relatives said they believe he, his wife and their two daughters were on board.
The family had taken off from Springerville Municipal Airport before crashing about 3 miles away, the TV station said. Investigators said no distress call had been received from the aircraft.
National Transportation Safety Board investigator Joshua Cawthra told WTVT Sunday the agency has confirmed all four people on board the aircraft were killed. The wreckage was being removed to a site in Phoenix for investigation.
"(There is) a big mess inside, a lot of debris -- imagine the entire roof structure of the high school collapsing onto the floor," Cawthra said.
No one was in Round Valley High School at the time of the fiery crash, but The Arizona Republic reported the plane, believed to be a Piper Cherokee, hit the building just after state Treasurer Dean Martin and others had left.
"We were about a city block away when we saw it in the rear-view mirror," said Martin, who is running for governor.
It took firefighters until about 6:30 p.m. to extinguish the fire caused by the crash.
