Show Low, Ariz. • A Utah man and a Tucson girl were killed when a single-engine plane crashed near the airport of the east-central Arizona city of Show Low, a fire official said Thursday.
Deputy Chief Randy Chevalier of the Timber Mesa Fire and Medical District identified those killed Wednesday as pilot David A. Gillette, 40, and passenger Lorelai Johansen, 11.
A person who identified themselves as a family friend posted on social media Thursday saying Johansen was Gillette’s niece, and that Gillette and his wife, Candace, had eight children.
Gillette and Johansen were the only people in the plane, and nobody on the ground was injured, Chevalier said. He said the plane crashed on a bluff near the airport and that it wasn’t immediately known whether the crash occurred after a takeoff or before a landing.
National Transportation Safety Board investigators arrived in Show Low on Thursday to investigate the crash, Chevalier said.
Show Low is 130 miles northeast of Phoenix.
— Tribune reporter Kolbie Peterson contributed to this story.