A West Valley father and son and a friend flying in a single-engine plane died after their aircraft collided with another and spiraled into a farmer's freshly planted cornfield here Saturday.
Killed were:Keith McArthur, 53, West Valley City.
Christopher McArthur, 28, West Valley City.
Richard Hansen, 69, Murray.
Hansen, Keith McArthur, and his son, Christopher McArthur were flying to Ogden for breakfast - something they did frequently - when the crash occurred, said Lt. Roger Anderson of the Davis County Sheriff's Office.
Residents reported hearing a loud pop, then seeing the Cessna 182 - flying close to a Cherokee Piper - spiral nose-first into the Kirkman Farm, near 1000 North and about 3500 West.
Keith McArthur's brother, Gary McArthur, also of West Valley City, and Lee Sorenson of Stansbury Park were riding in the Piper, which safely landed at Ogden Hinckley Airport, Davis County sheriff's officials reported. The planes were privately owned.
"They lost each other in their blind spots, that's the story we were told," Anderson said.
"The ground shook kind of like an earthquake" when the plane struck nose-first, said 12-year-old Luke McEntire, who was taking out the garbage across the street from the farm at the time.
The boom startled the farm's horses and cows, which stampeded around their corrals, McEntire said.
The Cessna and Piper apparently were headed north from Salt Lake City to the Ogden airport, Sgt. Duane Potts said. Witnesses reported seeing the Cessna flying below and to the side of the Piper around 12:40 p.m.
The Cessna flew laterally under the Piper before suddenly pulling up at about a 60-degree angle, said resident and licensed single-engine pilot Ed Johnson, who watched the collision while doing yardwork.
The Cessna had not cleared the Piper, however, and its wing appeared to have clipped the other plane's elevator wing, a stabilizing device located behind the main wings, Johnson said.
The Cessna suspended momentarily before its injured wing folded into the fuselage, sending the plane spiraling nose-first, Johnson said.
A small plane circled the wreckage for about 45 minutes, witnesses reported. It was not immediately known whether that plane was the Piper.
The fuselage landed atop the broken wing, with the other wing lying a few yards away. The wreckage burst into flames as residents - totaling about 100 - sprinted to the accident scene to see if they could help, Potts said.
"You couldn't even get close to it," said Ogden Smith, a manager of F-16 flight simulators at Hill Air Force Base. He and two other men were loading feed onto a tractor west of the farm when the crash occurred.
A handful of residents at the scene attempted to lift scattered plane parts as souvenirs, Potts said. Those parts were recovered and the offenders questioned. The disturbed evidence should not impede the investigation.
Debris from the collision landed in residents' yards several blocks to the east of the site, said Davis County Sheriff's Lt. Roger Anderson.
No one was injured and no homes were hit by debris, Potts said. But Kirkman will need to replant about five acres of corn crops damaged by debris and leaking fuel, he said.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.