Arizona Plane Crash Kills Malibu Owner of Chain Stores, Executive

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — A small airplane crashed on approach to an airport Friday, killing the owner and the chief financial officer of the Boston Store chain as they traveled from town to town delivering employee Christmas bonuses.

The twin-engine propeller plane crashed onto a freeway off ramp short of Pulliam Airport in Flagstaff, police Sgt. Pascual Mascias said. No one on the ground was injured.

The pilot, Donald Ballin Kaufman, 52, of Malibu, Calif., was owner of the Boston Store Inc., a two-state chain of department stores, Mascias said. Also killed was Suzanne Satow of Carson, Calif., the organization’s chief financial officer.

They had been in Prescott, Ariz., about 60 miles to the southwest, earlier in the day. Flagstaff is about 140 miles north of Phoenix.

The plane had been in contact with the Flagstaff airport’s control tower for about 10 minutes before the crash, Mascias said. It had circled the airport and was cleared to land before it crashed and burst into flames about half a mile short of the airport.

State Transportation Department worker Brent Rouble said he saw the plane nose-dive into the ground and burst “into a giant ball of flame.” He said he did not see any smoke or flames before the plane crashed.