NTSB releases new information on Utah Lake plane crash

PROVO — The National Transportation Safety Board released a preliminary report on the Utah Lake plane crash in September that killed two people — at one point two planes were just 200 feet apart.

According to the report, the SR-22 aircraft was owned by Cirrus Design Corp. with two men from Utah boarding a runway to land at Provo Airport when the accident occurred.

Investigations revealed that air traffic control had instructed the SR-22 pilot to follow another aircraft that was landing on the same runway shortly before them. Air traffic controllers then asked the pilot to “turn around” because there was another plane on the runway, the report said.

The SR-22 pilot responded that he was flying around and confirmed that the other aircraft was still on the runway.

“The air traffic controller cleared the pilot to land on runway 13, which he confirmed,” the report said. “No further radio transmissions from the pilot were heard.”

Surveillance cameras at the airport showed the first plane performing a “touch-and-go landing,” meaning the plane touched down on the runway but took off again without stopping. According to the report, the SR-22 came within 200 feet of the other aircraft and reached an altitude of 50 feet above the ground, then climbed and veered sharply off the runway.

The SR-22 was recorded at a ground speed of 110 knots on the downwind portion of the runway, and a few moments later, just before it turned right, a speed of 80 knots was recorded.

Data from the investigation showed that the SR-22 lost speed at this point. Then a witness in another aircraft said: “They observed the accident aircraft bank sharply and then stall before entering a rapid three-rotation descent,” the report said.

The witness also told investigators that he saw the plane's parachute deploy, but only just before it hit the water.

The National Transportation Safety Board said it was able to recover nearly all of the plane's fragments and take them to a facility where they will undergo further examination.

Contributor: Mary Culbertson, KSL TV