VINEYARD — Standing in his alfalfa field near the east shore of Utah Lake Friday afternoon, Rulon Gammon surveyed the natural and man-made hazards in the area, then looked at the crumpled airplane that had crash-landed in the field early that morning.
The two men who were flying the plane, 28-year old Ruston Pearce and 24-year old Shane Walker, both of Provo, sustained only minor injuries.
Gammon, who lives a few hundred yards away from the crash site and is the mayor of Vineyard, knows the incident could have been much worse.
"It's very unfortunate that it happened, and I'm glad the people weren't seriously hurt," Gammon said. "They were very lucky to walk away from this."
The two-seat Cessna 150 made an emergency landing in darkness around 3 a.m. after the aircraft ran out of fuel, according to Orem police. It landed on the edge of the alfalfa field, about 200 yards east of Utah Lake and about 300 yards west of power lines. The plane also avoided dense brush that covers the area between the lake and the field.
The single-engine aircraft ripped through a willow tree before hitting the ground and flipping once. The plane landed upright.
"I imagine the tree slowed them down," Gammon said.
He added the lack of light made the situation especially dangerous.
"It's totally dark out here at 3 a.m.," Gammon said. "They wouldn't have been able to see the power lines or anything else."
The only lights visible in the area would have been those from nearby Geneva Steel and Gammon's house, said the Vineyard mayor.
Pearce, the pilot, and Walker, the passenger, were traveling south from Emmett, Idaho and heading to the Provo airport.
The nose of the plane was mangled, and the tail was torn off. Both wings were also seriously damaged. Inside the cockpit, blood was splattered on the seats and seat belts.
However, the two men sustained only cuts and bruises, according to police. They were taken to the hospital and later were treated and released.
Gammon said he did not hear the crash. It wasn't until police knocked on his door at 4 a.m. that he learned about it.
The Federal Aviation Administration spent about 2 1/2 hours investigating the crash site Friday morning. The investigation could last anywhere from "weeks to months," said FAA spokesman Allen Kenitzer.
The National Transportation Safety Board is also investigating the crash, Kenitzer said.
E-mail: jeffc@desnews.com