EMERY COUNTY, Utah, Oct. 30, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — The Emery County Sheriff‘s Office released information Monday about a plane crash first confirmed Saturday night by a National Transportation Safety Board tweet.
The ECSO statement says a call came to dispatch officers at 6:15 p.m. Friday about the possible crash.
“It was reported that they were tracking a plane from the Vernal Regional Airport (Utah) and the plane had abruptly stopped transmitting a GPS location over the mountains west of Huntington,” the Sheriff’s statement says.
“An ECSO Deputy responded to the area using coordinates given, but was unable to get to the exact location due to rough and steep terrain. ECSO Dispatch Center requested assistance from the Utah DPS Aero Bureau, and a DPS helicopter responded to search the area. At 8:24 p.m., the DPS crew located the wreckage on a cliff face and reported that the crash was not survivable.
“A joint decision was made to call off recovery efforts for the night because it was too dangerous for the helicopter to maneuver against the cliff face in the dark.”
Recovery efforts resumed Saturday morning, the ECSO statement says.
“The DPS helicopter flew two ECSO personnel to the crash site and hoisted them down to process the scene. The body of the pilot was recovered. He was the only person aboard the aircraft.”
The NTSB is conducting the investigation, the news release says.
“Emery County Sheriff’s Office offers sincere condolences to the family and thanks the Utah DPS Aero Bureau for their expertise and assistance.”
