A plane crash Saturday that took the lives of two south Salt Lake County residents in an empty field hit too close to home for many living near the crash site.
Killed were:Weldon R. Glines, 63, Sandy
James K. Sullivan, 13, West Jordan
"This right here is scary," Shelly Stewart said, gathering three young sons around her and watching from a distance as crews recovered the bodies west of Riverton near Butterfield Canyon at approximately 7200 West and 13300 South. "There's four-wheelers, horses and people out here all the time. This is too close."
The two were killed after their two-seat, single engine bi-plane spun and struck the ground around 1:20 p.m. They were not related but were family friends, said Salt Lake County Fire Capt. Lowell Mikolash.
They were pronounced dead at the scene, said Salt Lake County Deputy Jeff West. Rescue workers spent most of the afternoon at the crash site.
Witnesses said they first thought the pilot (Glines) was performing aerial stunts - like so many other pilots do in the area.
"I was on a truck with my grandpa dumping soil when I saw the plane," said 7-year-old Devan Stewart. "I thought it was doing tricks and I said, `Look at the plane, grandpa.' Then it did a nose dive and twisted, and I didn't see it come back up."
Tim Barlow, 12, was with a group of friends behind a house just west of the field where the plane crashed when the accident took place. "We saw it spinning, but we didn't see when it landed because of the house. Then we heard an explosion and came running," he said.
West said it appears the plane experienced engine failure. A representative from the Federal Aviation Administration was expected to arrive late Saturday to conduct an investigation.
The plane, which was privately owned, took off from Airport No. 2 in West Jordan, West said. It was not known Saturday who owned the plane or what the purpose of the trip had been.
The crash is a real concern to residents who constantly see small planes overhead - many of which perform flips, Shelly Stewart said. "Every weekend it's like watching an air show from our porch. It rattles our windows and there's times you can see the pilots' faces. That's how close they are."
Although this crash did not produce any flames, Stewart said the dried-out foliage on Herriman's uncultivated fields points to a great fire danger should another plane crash. And, despite the town's open areas, she said she fears a home or power lines could be hit next.
"I feel like we need to approach someone about this now," she said.