Planes collide, one lands at VW proving grounds

A small, single-engine aircraft collided with another plane in midair Friday afternoon and was forced to make an emergency landing at the Volkswagen proving grounds east of Murphy Road, said Maricopa Fire Department spokesman Jon Sheaffer,

MFD was dispatched to the scene at 2:25 p.m.

The pilot and passenger on board one of the planes both refused medical transport, Sheaffer said. No information was available about the pilots or people in the second aircraft.

Ian Gregor, FAA communications manager for the Western-Pacific Region, said preliminary information indicates the pilot of a Piper Cherokee reported colliding in midair with another Cherokee around 2 p.m. approximately 12 miles southwest of Chandler Municipal Airport.

One plane landed safely at the Gila River Memorial Airport, and the other landed safely at a vehicle-test track, he said.

“Both aircraft reportedly sustained significant damage,” Gregor said.

The National Transportation Safety Board will be the lead investigative agency, working in conjunction with the FAA.

Neither the FAA nor NTSB releases the identities of people involved in crashes, Gregor said.