A California couple and a Salt Lake man walked away uninjured from their downed single-engine airplanes Tuesday after unrelated forced landings in Richfield and West Jordan.
Irene and Michael Steinger, 47 and 52, both of Los Angeles, took off from the Richfield Municipal Airport Tuesday in a Skyhawk aircraft. They achieved 200 feet elevation and had traveled about 11/2 miles when the plane experienced engine trouble and they were forced to land in a nearby field, Sevier County sheriff's Lt. C.N. Page said.En route to Grand Junction from Los Angeles, the couple had stopped in Richfield for fuel and left their airplane there for repairs. They continued on to Colorado by car.
Francis Bond Jr., 62, Salt Lake City, had been flying around West Jordan's Airport No. 2 when he landed about 9:30 a.m. and attempted to take off again.
Bond's rented Piper Warrior experienced engine trouble near the end of the runway, prompting him to put it down in a nearby field.
"If he would have been a little higher, he would have turned around and glided back to the airport," West Jordan police Lt. B.J. Snooks said.