One killed, four injured in Arizona airport business jets crash
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The spokesperson for the Scottsdale Fire Department says one person remains trapped inside one of the aircraft.
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This handout image courtesy of @donniefitz2 via Instagram shows the Phoenix Fire Department's heavy rescue team working near a Learjet 35A that went off the runway after landing and crashing into a Gulfstream 200 business jet on the tarmac at Scottsdale Municipal Airport in Arizona, on February 10, 2025. (AFP)
A midsize business jet skidded off the runway while landing at Scottsdale Municipal Airport in Arizona on Monday, colliding with a parked jet and resulting in at least one fatality, according to authorities.
At least four other people sustained injuries in the crash, stated Dave Folio, spokesperson for the Scottsdale Fire Department, during a press conference.
He added that one person remains trapped inside one of the aircraft, with first responders actively working to extricate them, while three others have been transported to nearby hospitals for treatment.
Folio did not provide further details, and the cause of the incident remains unclear.
Pictures from the scene showed a jet appeared to have slammed into the back of a larger plane, with emergency vehicles on hand.
DEVELOPING: Plane owned by Mötley Crüe singer Vince Neil crashes into parked jet at Scottsdale Airport in Arizona.
— BNO News (@BNONews) February 11, 2025
Officials confirm at least 1 person was killed, 4 injured. It's unknown if Neil was on board the plane. pic.twitter.com/t1etMwP75A
In a statement, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed it was investigating the crash, identifying the aircraft involved as a Learjet 35A, which veered off the runway before colliding with a Gulfstream 200.
"We do not know how many people were on board. The FAA is temporarily pausing flights into the airport," an FAA spokesperson said.
The incident occurs amid growing concerns over US air safety.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is currently investigating three fatal aviation accidents in recent weeks, including the midair collision of a passenger jet and a US Army Black Hawk helicopter in Washington, DC, which claimed 67 lives, a medical jet crash in Philadelphia that killed seven, and a plane crash in Alaska that resulted in 10 fatalities.
Musk previously posted it would 'take plane crash' to end DEI policy
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk once posted on X about aviation hiring, stating, "It will take an airplane crashing and killing hundreds of people for them to change this crazy policy of DIE," according to Yahoo's fact-checker.
Musk even mocked the acronym DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) by deliberately misspelling it as "DIE".
He posted (archived) the remark on Jan. 9, 2024, in response to a user who, according to NBC News, theorized that United Airlines pilots who attended historically Black schools and institutions would have lower IQs than the typical Air Force pilot. The person later removed their post.
Musk's post resurfaced after the Washington crash. Within hours of the tragedy, US President Donald Trump and other administration officials linked diversity hiring and DEI initiatives to the crash, despite acknowledging that investigations were only starting.
At a January 30 news conference, Trump criticized the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) diversity and hiring policy, which has been in place since 2013, long before the Biden administration.
