PAYSON, Utah, Aug. 13, 2018 (Gephardt Daily) — One person is dead after a small Cessna jet plane crashed into a home in Payson, Utah early Monday morning.
First responders were called to 594 E. Canyon Road at about 2:40 a.m. with reports of an explosion and fire. When they arrived, they realized the home had been struck by a plane.
According to Payson Police officials, the deceased was found in the plane wreckage. Two people who were inside the home managed to escape without injury.
Payson resident Slade Buhler told Gephardt Daily he heard the jet roaring overhead just moments before the fiery crash.
“I had just taken my dog out. Came in, sat down, and I heard this huge plane come from the east and it was headed west. I hurried and ran outside to see what the hell that was going on and you could just hear how loud it was, how low it was. Then it kept going north, north, north, and then you could hear it swinging back.
“It came right over, just went right up there … and no lights. I could barely see what it was. All of a sudden he got about right there, the lights came on and I thought, ‘Oh, my God. He’s going down! He’s going down!’
“I thought he was going to hit the mountain, right there, and all of a sudden ‘boom’ — a huge explosion…. The noise … you just couldn’t believe the noise.”
Firefighters worked quickly to knock down the flames, which caused heavy damage to the garage and the front of the home.
The twin-engine Cessna 525 Citation is registered to a Springville, Utah business. It was manufactured in 1995.
Gephardt Daily has a crew on the scene and will update the story as more information becomes available.
