COTTONWOOD, Ariz. (AP) — Police in Cottonwood says two people who died in the crash of a small plane on Tuesday morning were local residents.
Police Sgt. Gary Eisenga says the pilot was 64-year-old Philip J. Rajca and his passenger was 73-year-old Paul C. Haney.
Both Cottonwood residents died when the single-engine RV-6A crashed into a vacant field shortly after taking off from the local airport. The plane is a kit-built aircraft that the Federal Aviation Administration classifies as experimental.
Eisenga says a witness who saw the plane take off said it was flying very erratically, then pitched up before nosing into the ground.
Both men died at the scene.
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
