Three people, including a Salt Lake man, were killed Saturday when their airplane crashed into steep terrain about nine miles north of Walker Field, a Mesa County sheriff's spokes-woman said.
The twin-engine passenger plane, registered to Alpine Aviation of Salt Lake City, took off from Canyonlands Airport near Moab early Saturday morning en route to Grand Junction. Officials said the plane went down about 8:15 a.m.Rescue crews were flown to the site, in an area known as Book Cliffs, with helicopters, where they found the bodies of the two passengers and the pilot, the only people on board.
Deputy sheriff Doug Rushing said the two passengers, Rob Blatner, 40, and Dale Berliner, 32, of Los Angeles, were working for a film crew from the Los Angeles area.
The pilot, Kevin James, 35, was from Salt Lake City.
Weather conditions in the area of the crash included heavy rain, low clouds and some snow, Rushing said.
The cause of the crash is unknown. Investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration are scheduled to arrive Sunday morning.