Medical plane crashes near Chinle, killing four
Courtesy | Navajo Police Department
A medical transport plane operated by CSI Aviation crashed near Chinle Airport on Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025, killing all four crew members. The patient had not yet boarded. FAA and NTSB are investigating.
WINDOW ROCK
A medical transport plane en route to pick up a patient at the Chinle Airport crashed and burst into flames Tuesday, killing all four people aboard. All victims were non-local medical flight personnel. No patient was on board at the time of the crash.
The twin-propeller aircraft, operated by CSI Aviation of Albuquerque, was on a scheduled flight to transport a patient from a nearby hospital when the crash occurred just short of the runway. The Chinle Police District of the Navajo Police Department, Navajo EMS, and the Navajo Nation Fire & Rescue Services responded immediately to the scene and confirmed the aircraft was fully engulfed upon arrival.
Courtesy | Navajo Police Department
Smoke rises from a medical transport plane that crashed near Chinle Airport on Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025, killing all four crew members aboard.
“There was no distress signal that we know of. We wouldn’t receive those anyway if there was,” said Chinle Police District Cmdr. Emmett Yazzie.
Yazzie said aircraft that use the Chinle airport work with air traffic control from Denver. He added air traffic control was in the process of aiding officials with gathering information relating to the crash.
“We’re working with air traffic controllers out of Denver Airport, so they’re gathering data,” he said.
The aircraft’s intended patient had been staged at the hospital awaiting transport.
“They were on site, waiting for the plane to land so that they could be transported out,” Yazzie confirmed. “The people that were waiting for the plane, they’re OK.”
Yazzie added that the use of air medical transport in Chinle is frequent.
“Several (flights) all day long, all night long. And it’s not just airplanes. They also use helicopters as well,” he said.
Despite the high volume of medical flights in the area, Yazzie emphasized that aircraft accidents are rare.
“They’re very rare,” he said. “If we had one, we had one land, it wasn’t a crash, about a month ago in Round Rock, but that one safely landed with no one injured.”
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are leading the investigation.
“Navajo Police is working with NTSB and the FAA, and the medical examiner’s office out of Albuquerque,” Yazzie confirmed.
While FAA officials were expected to arrive Tuesday, and NTSB on Wednesday.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the cause of the crash remained unknown. Access to the Chinle Airport is temporarily closed as investigators begin their work.
CSI Aviation is handling next-of-kin notifications. The names of the deceased have not been released.
“This is a tragic loss to the families of those onboard and to the medical air and first responder community,” a statement from the Navajo Nation read. “We extend our deepest condolences to their family and loved ones during this time.”
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