Medical transport aircraft crash kills all 4 on board in Navajo Nation in Arizona

A small, dual-propeller medical transport aircraft crashed and caught hearth Tuesday on the Navajo Nation in northern Arizona, killing 4 individuals, the tribe mentioned in a press release.

A Beechcraft King Air 300 from CSI Aviation, a medical flight service based mostly in Albuquerque, New Mexico, took off with two pilots and two well being care suppliers, in response to the Federal Aviation Administration and CSI Aviation. It crashed within the early afternoon close to the airport in Chinle, about 300 miles northeast of Phoenix.

“They were trying to land there and unfortunately something went wrong,” district Police Commander Emmett Yazzie mentioned.

Smoke is seen close to particles within the aftermath of a small medical aircraft crash in Chinle, Arizona that killed all 4 individuals on board on August 5, 2025.

Navajo Police Division /Handout by way of REUTERS

The crew was planning decide up a affected person who wanted essential care from the federal Indian Well being Service hospital in Chinle, mentioned Sharen Sandoval, director of the Navajo Division of Emergency Administration. She mentioned the plan was to return to Albuquerque. The affected person’s location and situation weren’t identified Tuesday night.

Tribal authorities started receiving experiences at 12:44 p.m. of black smoke on the airport, Sandoval mentioned. The reason for the crash wasn’t identified, the tribe mentioned. The Nationwide Transportation Security Board and the FAA are investigating.

The corporate is cooperating with the investigation, in response to the assertion.

Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren mentioned in a social media submit that he was heartbroken to be taught of the crash.

“These were people who dedicated their lives to saving others, and their loss is felt deeply across the Navajo Nation,” he mentioned.

Medical transports by air from the Navajo Nation are frequent as a result of most hospitals are small and don’t supply superior or trauma care. The Chinle airport is one in every of a handful of airports that the tribe owns and operates on the huge 27,000 square-mile reservation that stretches into Arizona, New Mexico and Utah — the most important land base of any Native American tribe.

In January, a medical transport aircraft crashed in Philadelphia, killing eight individuals. The Nationwide Transportation Security Board, which is investigating the crash, has mentioned the voice recorder on that aircraft wasn’t working.