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FARMINGTON — Friends and family are mourning the loss of the three people who were killed in a small plane crash Sunday night on Sessions Mountain in Davis County.
Officials with the Davis County Sheriff's Office identified them Tuesday afternoon as:
Pilot:
- J. Parker Christensen, 28, of Ogden, Utah
Passengers:
- Tyson Peterson, 24, of Logan, Utah (husband)
- Kallie Edwards Peterson, 24, of Logan, Utah (wife)
"We all know each other, and it goes on for years," said Chris Eyring, who has had a long career flying airplanes.
When Eyring heard about a small plane that crashed in the mountains near Bountiful Sunday, he knew he might know the pilot. However, he had no idea he would also know the passengers.
"That was hard," he said. "I had just spoken to Kallie a day or two before when I was up in Logan giving tests that day."
Kallie is 24-year-old Kallie Edwards Peterson. She was a flight instructor at Utah State University. She was in that airplane with her husband, Tyson Peterson, as a gift to him for their one-year anniversary. However, something went wrong during that flight, and the two of them, as well as J. Parker Christensen, the 28-year-old pilot of the plane, crashed on Sessions Mountain.
"It took about seven individuals to be able to reach that plane," said Stephanie Dinsmore, who is a spokesman for the Davis County Sheriff's Office.
Search and rescue team members were hoping there might be survivors, but when they arrived, they found all three of their bodies.
"Our hearts go out to their friends and family," said Dinsmore. "You think about these three individuals who lost their lives and how young they were."
All tragedies can be heartbreaking. The story of that small plane crash in the mountains near Bountiful on Sunday is especially difficult. Two of the victims are husband/wife; she was surprising him with a flight for their 1-yr anniversary. We're doing a story for @KSL5TV at 10. pic.twitter.com/EQfe3MEoQc
— Alex Cabrero (@KSL_AlexCabrero) August 18, 2021
That's the part that gets Eyring — how they had their whole lives in front of them. Eyring knew Kallie Peterson's father because he's a pilot, as well. Eying had also flown with her several times for her evaluations and said she was a wonderful person who was always positive and asked lots of questions to make herself a better pilot.
"She was very committed to her students. She was not using flight instructing as a steppingstone to get to the airlines. She was very much committed to her students," he said.
Eyring doesn't know what went wrong, but he does know investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board will figure it out. "Just from having known Kallie for the last five years, that she would want those answers to be used to help improve aviation safety and they likely will," he said.
Eyring said he also knew Christensen, the pilot, who he described as a fun-loving young man who was a joy to be around.
The Edwards family released a statement about their daughter and her husband. The statement reads in full:
"As our family processes the unbelievable loss of our daughter Kallie and the love of her life, Tyson, we are grateful for all of the support we have received and for the dedicated search and rescue members who responded to this accident. Kallie was a vibrant and passionate young woman who was just at the beginning of a promising future. She had found a perfect match in Tyson, and together their potential was limitless. We know how loved the two of them were and we thank their many friends for the joy they shared. We are thankful for our faith that gives us comfort as we mourn, and we share our hope that we will be with our daughter again. We ask for privacy and respect as we move forward and appreciate the kindness that has been shown to our family by so many."
