Civilian Aircraft

Bell 407 series helicopter operated by Guardian Air approaching Sedona Airport.

I was outside my house earlier this year and heard what sounded like the engine of a propeller plane struggling. I thought that doesn't sound good. A few minutes later I heard sirens along Woody Mountain Road and I hoped it wasn't a plane crash. Later that day I found out a plane had gone down in a snowy field not far away. Fortunately nobody was hurt as the pilot was able to make a belly landing.

I know I have mostly shown and discussed military aircraft in my plane spotting posts but I also enjoy spotting and identifying civilian aircraft. It's just that military aircraft have specific functions and as a consequence have unique appearances. But civilian aircraft of competing designs often have similar appearances to meet common purposes, compared to the niches of military applications.

Flagstaff isn't quite as good of a location for spotting civilian planes but we have commercial service and a small collection of local private planes that fly around some. It's also apparent that charters come in with wealthy people frequently, probably because Flagstaff is near the Grand Canyon. Drake flew in a few months ago with a custom private jet which is a disproportionately large (imo) Boeing 767 with custom livery. I guess he flies trans-oceanic with it? I failed to get a photo but here is a story with photos and video.

I'm not sure why we don't have more civilian aircraft, because there is plenty of wealth here, but perhaps the high altitude of the airport has something to do with it. We also get some firefighting aircraft seasonally. Here are some more photos taken near Flagstaff.

A high wing monoplane, possibly a Cessna 170 or similar.

A photo from a while back of perhaps the same medical helicopter from the photo at top on approach to Flagstaff Medical Center.

American Eagle commercial flight taken from a local hiking trail near the airport, likely a Canadair CRJ-700 series.