Plane on Medical Mission Crashes, Killing 4 in Ariz.

A twin-engine plane on a medical mission crashed Friday on a mountain ridge in northern Arizona, killing a pregnant woman and three other people, officials said.

Lt. Sam Whitted of the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office said the Cessna 206, owned by Monument Valley Air Service, was flying the woman from Tuba City to Page to meet an Air Evac plane which was to take her to Phoenix.

The woman reportedly was pregnant with twins and doctors expected complications, Whitted said.

The plane took off from Tuba City at 2:40 a.m. and crashed about 10 miles north of the town, he said.

A Department of Public Safety helicopter spotted the wreckage at 6:30 a.m. and the crew reported that there were no survivors. A doctor and a nurse also were killed.

Rain, Snow, High Winds

“Weather conditions at the time of the flight were less than optimum,” Whitted said. “I don’t know how bad they were in that area, but all over the northern part of the state, there were less than optimum flying conditions.”

Whitted said there was a substantial cloud cover, with rain and wet snow and high winds throughout northern Arizona overnight.

Diane Duffy, director of public relations for Air Evac in Phoenix, said she had no information on the patient and did not know why the Air Evac plane had been called to Page instead of Tuba City.

“We got a call to meet an individual in Page,” Duffy said. “Why we were asked to go to Page, I don’t know.”