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RUSH VALLEY, Tooele County — The pilot of a small plane that crashed on June 17 in Tooele County was traveling with her granddaughter in an almost 1,000-mile trip that was planned as Father's Day surprise for the pilot's father, a National Transportation Safety Board preliminary report revealed Friday.
The trip began at the pilot's home airport in Havre, Montana, with the final destination being El Centro, California, according to the report.
A friend told investigators the pilot's plan was to fly through the night and stop in Idaho Falls and Cedar City for fuel, eventually arriving in El Centro, the report says. The pilot opted to fly overnight to avoid the heat and turbulence brought by flying over the desert and planned to sleep for two hours while stopped in Cedar City, the friend said.
Flight tracking was complied by NTSB using radar data and indicated that the plane had left Idaho Falls about 9 p.m. and was flying south toward Malad City, Idaho, the report says. Fifty minutes later, after reaching an altitude of 9,200 feet, the plane began to descend as it flew toward the northern shores of the Great Salt Lake.
For the next 20 minutes, the plane traveled in and out of the western edge of Salt Lake City International Airport's airspace at an altitude of approximately 8,200 feet. Then at about 10:45 p.m., the plane had reached the Stansbury Mountains and cleared the northern section of the range by approximately 400 feet vertically, the report says. The plane flew south along the corridor of the foothills of the mountain range, where it came within 100 feet vertically and horizontally of the terrain.
The report says that about 10:50 p.m. the plane was passing to the east of Desert Peak and began to turn directly toward the terrain. The last data point recorded at 10:53 p.m. shows that the plane was traveling just about three-quarters of a mile short of the 10,330-foot peak.
At 11:20 p.m. a 911 call to Tooele County Fire Department reported a fire along the Stansbury Mountains. Utah fire investigators determined the official cause of the fire to be the plane crash. On June 23, the Morgan Canyon Fire, as the wildfire was named, was estimated at 459 acres with zero percent containment.
When the pilot and her granddaughter didn't arrive at their destination at 6 a.m. as planned, and being unable to make contact with them, the report says family and friends reported the missing plane to the Federal Aviation Administration.
The wreckage of the plane was located by members of the U.S. Forest Service several hours after the FAA issued an alert notice, according to the report. The wreckage was on an east-facing slope within the valley, approximately 1,300 feet beyond the last data point recorded. The report identified the first point of impact composed of an 18-inch-wide tree trunk, severed about 15 feet above ground level.
Following reports of the crash, NTSB investigators traveled to the scene. Their investigation included examining the weather, radar, air traffic control, mechanical inspection and the pilot's medical data reflected in the NTSB's preliminary report.
An official cause of the crash was not indicated in the report.
Correction: A previous version said the crash happened in the Tansbury Mountains, as noted in the NTSB's report. The crash happened in the Stansbury Mountains.
