Plane owned by Mötley Crüe's Vince Neil involved in crash at Arizona airport
A plane owned by Mötley Crüe lead singer Vince Neil was involved in a fatal accident in Arizona's Scottsdale Airport on Monday afternoon, according to officials.
One person died after an airplane, a Learjet 35A, crashed into a parked plane, a Gulfstream 200 business jet, after landing at Scottsdale Airport, a Scottsdale Fire Department spokesperson said to The Arizona Republic, part of The Paste BN Network. Capt. Dave Folio, a spokesperson for the Scottsdale Fire Department, confirmed the death and four injuries, adding that two people are in critical condition.
Kelli Kuester, a spokesperson for Scottsdale Airport, said at an evening news briefing that the Learjet was arriving from Austin, Texas, and veered off the runway into a parked jet. The arriving plane's left main gear appeared to have failed upon landing, causing the collision, Kuester said.
According to records reviewed by The Arizona Republic, the jet is registered to Chromed in Hollywood, Inc., a Wyoming-based company, and listed Neil as the owner of the aircraft.
A statement released by Worrick Robinson, Neil's legal representative, confirmed to Paste BN he was not on board.
"At 2:39 p.m. local time, a Learjet aircraft Model 35A owned by Vince Neil was attempting to land at the Scottsdale Airport. For reasons unknown at this time, the plane veered from the runway causing it to collide with another parked plane," the statement read. "On board Mr. Neil's plane were two pilots and two passengers. Mr. Neil was not on the plane."
The statement concluded: "Mr. Neil's thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved, and he is grateful for the critical aid of all first responders assisting today."
The rock band's manager, Allen Kovac, also told TMZ that Neil was not aboard the flight but that the singer's girlfriend, Rain, and one of her friends, were on the plane. The two were hospitalized.
The runway was shut down after the crash, which occurred around 2:30 p.m. local time. The Scottsdale Fire Department was on the scene with several trucks and had to extricate one person trapped in one of the planes.
The Gulfstream jet was stationed at the airport since Jan. 31, according to flight records.
Kuester said officials with the National Transportation Safety Board were on scene and would take over the investigation. The last fatal crash at the Scottsdale airport happened in 2018, when a pilot, a student pilot, and four passengers were killed after the plane crashed shortly after takeoff.
Contributing: Pamela Avila, Paste BN