Crime

Instagram Model Among Dead In Horror Plane Crash In US

She was friends with Kendall Jenner

An Instagram model is among the six people who died in a horror plane crash in the US earlier this week. 

According to PEOPLE, the small plane headed to Las Vegas plummeted into an Arizona Golf just 15 minutes after take off. 

Scottsdale police said 23-year-old model Mariah Sunshine Coogan, who is said to be friendly with Kendall Jenner, died in the crash, along with Erik  Valente, 26, James Louis Pedroza, 28, Anand Anil Patel, 28, Helena Lagos, 22, and Iris Carolina Rodriguez Garcia, 23. 

Coogan shared videos on Instagram with the hashtag #VegasLetsGo aboard the Piper PA-24 Comanche just before the plane took off.

Pedroza has been identified as the aircraft’s owner and pilot.

As CBS reports, the 28-year-old checked in with air traffic control minutes before the plane crashed.

When asked “Are you experiencing any difficulty?” by an air traffic controller, Pedroza replied: “Uh, we’re good, we’re just a training lesson.”

Tributes have poured in for the six passengers, with Coogan’s mother Stacey describing her as a “bright light”.

“She’s been such a great child to have,” she told the Press Democrat. “I mean, she’s my first, and her middle name is Sunshine, and she has proven that name because any room she walks into, she smiles and brightens the whole room. I’m going to miss her so much.”

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