MESA, Ariz. (AP) — Authorities have confirmed wreckage found in a rugged canyon east of Phoenix is that of a small plane missing from a flight school in Mesa since Thursday.
All three people on board the single-engine Piper died in the crash. A spokeswoman for CAE Oxford Aviation Academy says the dead include an Arizona flight instructor, a student pilot from the Netherlands and an instructor for Dutch airline KLM.
Civil Air Patrol incident commander Paul Rehman says the wreckage was spotted by a Department of Public Safety helicopter crew at about 8:30 a.m. Saturday. A Gila County sheriff's search and rescue team confirmed there were no survivors.
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor says the plane apparently crashed into a cliff wall.
The single-engine Piper left Mesa's Falcon Field Thursday afternoon.
