Grand Canyon Air Crash Dead Named
Four California resident who died Sunday when their light plane crashed just short of the runway at the Grand Canyon airport were identified by Coconino County sheriff’s deputies.
Dispatcher Donia Ely identified the dead as two Campbell, Calif.. couples: Renato Ricci, 47, the pilot, and his wife, Glenda Jewel Ricci, 43, and Paul William Lasley, 46, and Goldie Ruth Lasley, 45.
Ely said investigators had determined that the Riccis and Lasleys had been visiting Sedona and planned to fly from there to a San Jose airport via the Grand Canyon. Instead, said Detective Gil Moreno, Ricci ran into problems and tried to land at the South Rim airport at Tusayan, 12 miles south of here.
It was the third fatal crash at or near the South Rim in the past 18 months.
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