Six die in plane crash in Superstition Mountains

The Pinal County Sheriff’s Office has responded to a small plane crash that killed three adults and three children in a remote area of the Superstition Mountains in Pinal County. All the victims were from Arizona.

At approximately 6:31 p.m. Wednesday, PCSO dispatch received numerous emergency calls from concerned citizens who reported seeing a plane crash near the top of the Superstition Mountains.

As deputies and members of Search and Rescue responded, a fire could be seen burning just below the top of the mountain in the area known as Flat Iron.

Working with staff from the National Transportation Safety Board, PCSO confirmed a Rockwell 690A, dual engine airplane had taken off from Falcon Field Airport in Mesa with six passengers at 6:15 p.m. and crashed minutes later.

The adult victims are: Russell Hardy, 31, Thatcher, co-pilot and partial owner of the aircraft; Joseph Hardwick, 22, Safford, airplane mechanic; and Shawn Perry, 39, Safford, co-pilot. The three children were all from Gold Canyon. They are: Morgan Perry, 9; Logan Perry, 8; and Luke Perry, 6.

Shawn Perry, with the assistance of Russell Hardy, landed at Falcon Field from Safford at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday to refuel and pick-up his two sons and daughter. Their goal was to fly back to Safford to celebrate Thanksgiving together.

Utilizing Rapid Response, members from PCSO and the Department of Public Safety were flown to 5,000 feet via helicopter by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office to the crash site where they located the body of one child Wednesday evening. By midnight, teams secured the area and waited for daybreak to resume recovery efforts.