CROWN KING, AZ -- Officials have identified the two people killed in a plane crash near Crown King on Monday.
According to Yavapai County Sheriff's Office spokesman Dwight D'Evelyn, two bodies were recovered from the crash site Tuesday and identified as 74-year-old Ralph Smith and his 70-year-old wife Francis.
Officials say the couple is from Aguila, and were headed there from St. John's on Sunday when their single-engine plane crashed in a mountainous area near Crown King.
The president of the homeowner's association where the Smiths lived near Aguila explained that Smith was a retired airline pilot.
He said that their community of about 75 homes is a residential airpark and that Smith loved to fly.
He also said he was returning to Aguila from Illinois where he was visiting family.Fire crews from the Bureau of Land Management responded to reports of flames on the mountain and gathered Monday for a helicopter trip into a remote area on the Bradshaw Mountains.
Several witnesses had reported the fire late Sunday afternoon.
"It was pretty obvious. You could see the flames from down here," said Ken Shaver, the fire prevention officer for the Bureau of Land Management, Phoenix division.
"Due to the remote location and the late time of the fire, we weren't able to access it last night," he said Monday.
But Monday morning, fire crews, including Daniel Michael, started the trek into the mountains to track down signs of smoke, handle what was left of the fire, and determine what had caused the one-acre blaze.
"Our first thought would be lightning," said Shaver. "We checked into that and there was no lightning in the area."
Michael said his fire crew landed their helicopter in a safe place on the mountain and hiked nearly thirty minutes to find the smoldering brush.
That's when they discovered plane wreckage.
"It was a shocker," Michael said.
"You start to see wreckage, and it's fairly new wreckage," he said describing the broken plane.
"Just pieces of metal everywhere," he said. "Some of it, melted, and all of it charred," he explained.
Michael said he and his crew immediately searched for survivors but found none.
He said it was difficult to determine how many people might have been on the plane.
"Obviously, we had a much more important mission at that point than the fire itself," he said.
"Once you find wreckage," he added, "you immediately think of the people and the families, and a lot goes through your head."
The Smiths plane departed St. John's on Sunday and was supposed to arrive in Aguila the same day, but when it didn't show up, relatives notified authorities.
The FAA registry shows the plane belongs to a company in Aguila, a town west of Wickenburg.
Officials say the National Transportation Safety Board has assumed responsibility for the investigation.
