TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) An Oklahoma flight instructor was identified Friday as one of three men killed Thursday when their single-engine airplane crashed in the desert northwest of here.
The four-seat Grumman American was approaching the landing strip at Ryan Field at 5:45 p.m. Thursday when it crashed while on a landing pattern, Pima County sheriff's Sgt. Paul Pedersen said. Only the tail remained intact.
Pedersen said the crash occurred about a half-mile west of the airfield's landing strip. Skies were clear at the time, Tucson International Airport controllers said.
Lorcan Cyril Cosgrave, 26, of Tulsa was killed along with the pilot, Kent David Tucker, 28, and Tucker's father, Robert Lee Tucker, 54, both of Tucson. Cosgrave was a certified instructor for American Flyers Inc., which owned the plane, officials said.
Area resident James Hill, 39, who witnessed the crash, said he saw the plane flying fairly close to a normal approach when it made a tight left turn, continued down and spun to the ground. The propeller was turning very slowly, apparently without power, Hill said. "It basically went straight in," he said.
Mary Susan Baker (McAuliff) (1981)
Lorcan had the coolist accent- Irish of coarse. I got to know him on the fencing team. He had a good sense of humor and a mean jab. I was so sorry to hear he died shortly after our years at St.Greg's in an airplane crash. Hope your Irish Eyes are smilin' now, Lorcan. Susan