Nicholas Boehle Tribute

Nicholas Boehle was one of the unfortunate victims of a fatal plane crash that took the lives of two others.  The plane crash was near Mesa's Falcon Field Municipal Airport.

Police tape and emergency vehicles skirted the edges of the orange grove near Greenfield and McKellips roads. About a hundred feet in, a single-engine plane shattered into hundreds of small pieces was all that was left.

Police and aviation officials said the pilot reported mechanical problems shortly before crashing, and a witness said the pilot apparently turned the plane away from a shopping center when it became obvious he couldn't make it back to the airport. // // //]]>

Police identified the victims as Brian White, 27, of Gilbert, Nicholas Boehle, 27, of Scottsdale and Lisa O'Neal, 28, of Phoenix.

Air-traffic controllers cleared the Lancair aircraft to return to the airport about 7 a.m. after seeing what appeared to be smoke coming from the plane, said Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration.

The aircraft was registered to Nicholas Boehle and James Boehle under Boehle Aviation, LLC, according to Arizona Corporation Commission records.

Reached at his chiropractic practice Wednesday afternoon, James Boehle declined comment except to say that he knew all of the victims. Nicholas Boehle was a medical consultant.

Authorities said the plane was en route to John Wayne Airport in Orange County where Nicholas Boehle had been working.