Midair Collision Cuts Plane in Half

By Paradise Afshar, CNN

(CNN) – Two people on board a single-engine plane were injured Friday after a collision with another plane during an aerial demonstration in Mesa, Arizona, officials said.

The collision, which happened at Falcon Field Airport before 1 p.m. local time, left the two injured people trapped after returning to the runway in a Yakovlev Yak-52, according to a statement from the Federal Aviation Administration.

Arriving at the scene, officials found that the stricken plane’s landing gear failed, and “the aircraft broke in half behind the cockpit, the plane went nose down and came to a stop on the runway,” the Mesa Fire and Medical Department said in a news release.

The two people were extracted from the plane and evaluated on scene for minor injuries, Mesa officials said, adding there were a total of three airplanes participating in formation at the time of the incident.

The other single-engine aircraft involved in the collision, a Ryan Navion, landed safely with one person on board, the FAA said.

The collision is under investigation by the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board.

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