FAA investigates Roy plane crash


43 photos
Save Story

Show 1 more video

Leer en español

Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

ROY -- Federal and local officials are looking into Sunday night's plane crash in Roy and comparing it to other recent crashes in the area as part of a larger investigation.

Residents want to see changes

Roy Police Chief Greg Whinham said this is the fourth plane crash within Roy city limits since 1989 and all of them have occurred in roughly the same area. That raises serious concerns for residents near the crash site at 2000 West and 4300 South.

"We have planes over our city every day, all day long. It is a concern. We as a police department train for these very events, anticipating that in fact they can happen. Would we like them to happen far less? Yes," he said.

The pilot, 46-year-old Clayton Roop of West Haven, remains in critical but stable condition at the University of Utah Burn Center with burns over about 25 percent of his body. No one else was injured.

The crash caused two homes to catch fire and knocked out power to as many as 1,700 residents. Power was restored by Monday morning and residents have returned home, except those who live in two homes damaged by the fire.

Roop was flying in from St. George when the Cessna 210 began to struggle in the heavy fog and clipped a power line two blocks southwest of the crash site just before 6 p.m., Roy City Fire Chief Jon Ritchie said.

Some residents say they would like to see changes to the runway or landing patterns.

Ogden-Hinckley Airport manager Ed Rich said, "I don't have any concerns about the airport or its runway conditions."

Related

He said before Roop approached the airport, another pilot attempted a second approach but had poor visibility and went to Provo instead. Rich said the last two crashes in the Roy area were take-off crashes. He said the runway is big enough to land a 757.

Rich added, even if visibility was a factor in the crash, the airport tower cannot deny pilots on approach.

"It's up to the pilot. If something were going wrong, I have no way of knowing. He might have possibly had an instrument problem. He obviously got too low," Rich said.

Whinham said daylight will help the investigation.

"The FAA has been here since last night but we'll be able to complete a walk-through of the crash site," he said Monday morning. "We'll be able to see any debris or any other impacts that may have happened until the final impact on the street."

Neighbors help pull pilot from burning plane

Neighbor Gary Cox helped pull the pilot from the plane. He says Roop was confused and badly burned but was able to answer questions.

"Pretty banged up, burnt on his hands and face, but he was actually coherent and remembered what his name was and what he was doing," Cox said.

Neighbors say they heard a loud boom right after the crash. Many poured out into the street to see what had happened. Marne Bowden was visiting family just up the street when she heard an explosion and went outside.

"The pilot was lying here off the gutter. He had burns. Sparks were coming out, so we helped move him across the street," she said.

The plane crashed into Pat Newman's home.

"There was a flash, but I didn't get the flash, it didn't register with me until later and then I heard an explosion," she said. "Our car was right outside the door and the explosion was so loud that I said to my husband, ‘our car has exploded' and I got up and went to the door, opened the door and said to him ‘it wasn't our car, it was an airplane let's get out of here.'"

She continued, "I am so thankful we are alive. I am so thankful that everyone got out. I heard that the people in the airplane got out too, and I just can't tell you how thankful I am for that because when I saw that ball of fire, I didn't think that anyone could possibly have survived it."

------

Story written with contributions from Andrew Adams and Anne Forester.


View Larger Map

Photos

Related stories

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

Utah
ksl.com

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast