The pilot who was sadly killed in a plane crash involving Mötley Crüe’s Vince Neil’s jet has been named.
On Monday, Scottsdale Airport was forced to close after a Learjet 35A veered off the runway upon landing and collided with a stationary Gulfstream 200 business jet, killing one person and injuring three others.
The Learjet, which had been completing a private flight from Austin, Texas, landed at 2:39PM local time before crashing into the parked aircraft minutes later.
Officials confirmed that the jet is owned by Neil, though he was not aboard at the time.
The Learjet carried four people – two pilots and two passengers – when it crashed.
Neil’s girlfriend, Rain Andreani, 43, and her friend were among the passengers. According to the New York Post, Andreani suffered five broken ribs in the accident.
Two dogs belonging to the female passengers were also on board but survived the crash.
One of the Learjet’s pilots was pronounced dead at the scene, while the other pilot, along with Andreani and her friend, was taken to a local hospital. The sole occupant of the Gulfstream jet was uninjured.
The City of Scottsdale released a statement attributing the crash to a landing gear failure:
“The accident occurred at 2:39PM when a Learjet 35A, arriving from Austin, veered off the runway and struck a parked Gulfstream 200.”
“According to initial reports, the Learjet’s left main landing gear failed upon landing, leading to the collision.”
Emergency personnel from Scottsdale Fire Station 609 arrived at the scene within one minute of the crash.
The statement further confirmed: “One person was pronounced dead, while three others sustained injuries and were transported to Valley hospitals for treatment. Another individual refused medical treatment.”
The pilot who sadly died has been identified as 78-year-old Marine veteran Joie Vitosky.
Vitosky’s daughter, Jana Schertzer, expressed admiration for her father’s skill and composure in the moments leading up to the crash.
“I honestly, wholeheartedly believe that the reason those other passengers are alive – it’s because of how he handled it yesterday,” Schertzer told The Arizona Republic on Tuesday.
A native of Oklahoma, Vitosky joined the Marine Corps in his early twenties with a passion for aviation. He served as a Marine Corps aviator, flying helicopters in Vietnam in 1969, his ex-wife Ann Vitosky told The Associated Press.
After more than a decade in the military, he transitioned to flying Learjets. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, he had been a certified flight engineer since 1978 and a pilot since 2019.
“His passion was flying,” Ann Vitosky said, adding that he died doing what he loved.
Schertzer echoed that sentiment, emphasizing that her father was in excellent health and dedicated to flying.
“Instead of, you know, retiring and doing nothing, he did it literally until the day he died,” she said.
