On Sunday, April 18, around 6 p.m., deputies from the Coconino County Sheriff’s Williams Sub-Station received a report of an overdue aircraft from Vista, California. A family member of one of the overdue occupants indicated that the missing parties had not reported for work as scheduled on Sunday. The occupants have been identified as Timothy Michael Gill, 37, and Joylani Roseann Kamalu, 38, of Vista, California.
The reported destination for the aircraft was the Grand Canyon Airport for a scheduled appointment in the Tusayan area at 9 a.m., having departed from the Sedona Airport. Investigators immediately focused on attempting to search for the aircraft at the Sedona and Grand Canyon airports.
Due to the potential of the aircraft being in multiple jurisdictions, the State Search and Rescue Coordinator was notified, who in turn requested assistance from the U.S. Air Force Civil Air Patrol to determine the last known direction and location of the aircraft. This information from the U.S. Air Force directed search efforts to an area northeast of the Williams airport, also known as HA Clark Airfield.
Deputies requested the assistance of the Arizona Department of Public Safety Air Rescue helicopter out of Kingman. On Monday, April 19, at 1:40 a.m., DPS Air Rescue located the aircraft crashed in a wooded area near the Williams Airport. Two occupants were confirmed deceased in the downed aircraft.
The incident is currently under investigation by the NTSB, FAA, the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office and the Coconino County Medical Examiner’s Office. No further information is available at this time.
