DATELAND, Arizona — A plane crashed Friday in southwestern Arizona, killing the pilot and a passenger.
Just before 2:00 p.m. Friday, DPS officers spotted large amounts of smoke while patrolling Spot Road and Interstate 8 near Daytland, Arizona, according to the Yuma County Sheriff’s Office. It says.
When police arrived on the scene, they found a small plane in flames in the desert.
Authorities were called to the scene and found the pilot and passenger who were pronounced dead.
The aircraft has been identified as a van RV-6 two-seater plane.
The family contacted ABC15 and announced that the two deceased were Ron Barba, 61, and Marcella Orozco Barba, 47. The Yuma County Sheriff’s Office later confirmed the victim’s identity.
“The whole family is in shock,” said Marcella’s cousin Angela Durand. “We are all shocked because I don’t think the accident was planned,” she said.
Durand said she was due to meet her cousin Marcela and her husband Ron from Nogales on Sunday.
“They were going to come to Nogales on a purpose-built plane he bought,” Durand said. “He had bought it months ago and they were very excited.”
Duran said the two were the perfect couple.
Marcella had no children, but Ron’s daughter told ABC15 that Marcella had four.
“Crazy but perfect,” Duran said.
Over the phone, she told ABC15 that the couple had already flown many times and Ron was an experienced pilot.
Angela said she learned about it on Saturday after receiving a message from Ron’s daughter.
“Right now, we really don’t know what happened or why the plane crashed,” Durand said.
Only 24 hours later, she said her family was in unspeakable pain.
“She was my best friend, even though we were far apart, we spoke on the phone,” Durand said. “We were worried about each other.”
As the two families grieved, Durand said he realized that every day wasn’t promised.
“We fight over unimportant things before we know if we’ll wake up tomorrow,” Durand said.
The cause of the crash is still unknown.
According to YCSO, the plane had left San Diego and was on its way to Nogales.
The FAA and NTSB have been contacted and are investigating the crash.
