Ballard couple ID'd as victims of helicopter crash in Utah


Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: Less than a minute

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 Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information.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.

ALPINE, Utah (AP) — A husband and wife from Ballard have been identified as the two people killed in the crash of a small helicopter in the central Utah mountains.

Utah County Sheriff's officials say the pilot was 32-year-old Benno Anthony Penna with his 32-year-old wife Megan Michele Hawk Penna as the passenger.

The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration will investigate the crash that occurred Friday on a steep, snow slope near Alpine 22 miles (35 kilometers) south of Salt Lake City.

Family members of the victims reported the helicopter overdue on a flight from Vernal Regional Airport in eastern Utah to South Valley Regional Airport in metro Salt Lake City.

Authorities recovered the two bodies Saturday.

The couple leave behind two children — a 6-year-old boy and a 5-year-old-girl.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Most recent U.S. stories

Related topics

U.S.
The Associated Press

    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