Karen Perry, Mom Who Lost Kids in Arizona Plane Crash

[Nell]

Friends are wrapping their arms around Karen Perry today after the Gold Canyon, Ariz., single mother had to face the loss of her three young children and ex-husband.

"You have survived so much already," friend Susan Steele wrote on Perry's public Facebook wall. "I cannot imagine what you are facing. I add my love and prayers to the many you have received. We are all here for you."

Perry, who was a pilot and currently works as a flight attendant with Delta Airlines, was described as a doting and selfless mother to her three children, Morgan, 9; Logan, 8; and Luke, 6.

Countless pictures of Perry having fun with her three children are posted on her Facebook, including Morgan and a kangaroo, a vacation with Logan in Hollywood and photos of Luke, who loved to pose, hamming it up for the camera.

"Such a camera ham," Perry wrote under a picture Luke took of himself.

Luke, who was the youngest, suffered from autism.

"My male mini me," Perry wrote under a picture of the two of them.

Morgan battled epilepsy and faced several brain surgeries.

"They were just great kids," Mark Blomgren, principal at the school the two oldest children attended, told the Arizona Republic. "All the teachers were naturally shocked. They cared about them and wondered how their mom was doing and they were just hit pretty hard. Logan and Morgan were just special kids that the teachers really bonded with."

The flight between Falcon Field in Mesa, Ariz., and Safford, Ariz., seemed to be a common one for the three kids.

Perry posted a picture of the twin-engine plane the children and her ex-husband, Shawn Perry, 39, rode on during that fateful Thanksgiving-eve crash in the Superstition Mountains.

"Just loaded up my kids on this turbine commander," she posted on Feb. 4, 2011. "Dad at the controls headed for Safford, AZ."

The twin-engine plane slammed into the Superstition Mountains at 200 mph shortly after takeoff on Wednesday, creating a fireball that was captured on video.

Pilot Russell Hardy, 31, and mechanic Joseph Hardwick, 22, who was engaged to be married on Dec. 16, were also on board.

Rescuers continued their search to recover remains and debris today, which they said was scattered throughout the steep, jagged terrain.

"It's a very arduous process, without being too descriptive, because of the explosion," Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu said Thursday afternoon. "The remains are being handled with great care and compassion."

http://abcnews.go.com/US/karen-perry...2#.TtQu0GP0Oi8

Video of the crash caught on tape is at the link, but i don't know how to transfer it here.

[Alf]

Falcon Field to Superstition Mountain isn't that far, but it's not like the mountain looms right off the end of the runway.

This one bears watching.

--Al

[MissDemeanor]

I live right down the street from where this crash happened. This accident makes no sense to me. The pilot had flown the same route countless times and knew it like the back of his hand. He knew the Mountain was there and how high he had to be to get over it. It had to be a mechanical issue. According to the local news they said he baically slammed into the side of the Mountain going at least 200mph. People who witnessed the crash had conflicting statements. Some said that the pilot did not attempt to raise the plane, others said he did and even more people said they saw the plane catch on fire before hitting the mountain.
My thoughts and prayers go out to Karen Perry and the rest of the family and friends. It is truly tragic.