Plane crash-lands on farmland in Hurricane

A Piper single engine aircraft rests in a farm field after catching fire during flight and crash-landing, Hurricane, Utah, Oct. 21, 2018 | Photo by Cody Blowers, St. George News

HURRICANE — A small aircraft with six occupants crash-landed in a field off 920 West in Hurricane Sunday afternoon after the pilot performed an emergency landing when the plane caught fire during flight.

A Piper single engine aircraft rests in a farm field after catching fire during flight and crash-landing, Hurricane, Utah, Oct. 21, 2018 | Photo by Cody Blowers, St. George News

Shortly before 3 p.m. the plane was found crashed in the middle of a field of newly-planted grass and oats behind several homes. The pilot and five passengers were able to get out of the plane and were waiting for help several yards away, according to an eye-witness who was in the area but requested not to be identified.

“I ran toward the plane and saw smoke coming from the front of it and then saw that the passengers and pilot were able to get out and walk to the end of the field,” the witness said.

Two of the plane’s occupants were transported by responding ambulance crews to Dixie Regional Medical Center in stable condition with injuries that were not life-threatening, Hurricane Valley Fire Battalion Chief Nick Wright said.

The witness said that while checking on the group before help arrived, he learned from the pilot that the plane had been on a return flight to Salt Lake City carrying two adults and four teenagers.

During the flight, the plane reportedly experienced an electrical issue that started a fire near the front of the aircraft.

An airplane’s wing sits in the mud after it was separated from the aircraft during a crash-landing, Hurricane, Utah, Oct. 21, 2018 | Photo by Cody Blowers, St. George News

As the pilot was making an emergency landing into the field, one of the plane’s wings struck an irrigation pipe that ran the entire length of the field. Once the pipe became caught on the wing, it was dragged several feet before the wing snapped off and became lodged in the mud alongside the pipe.

Upon landing, the aircraft was still burning. Firefighters from Hurricane Valley Fire District arrived on scene and extinguished the fire, Wright said.

The aircraft is a Piper Malibu Mirage, according to an Oct. 21 Flight Safety Foundation report.

Hurricane City Police officers also responded and secured the area. Representatives from the police department were not immediately available for additional information.

Incidents involving aircraft are typically turned over to the Federal Aviation Administration for investigation with oversight by the National Transportation Safety Board.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2018, all rights reserved.

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6 Comments

  • Uncle Rico October 21, 2018 at 8:11 pm

    Thank you Jesus for keeping them all safe.

  • Ridic October 22, 2018 at 7:27 am

    Maybe it’s just me, but looking at the pictures I could swear it’s the right wing that is torn off and not the left one. I suppose someone has reinvented something that makes the left the right and vice Versa. I’ve always thought that sides of vehicles were determined by looking front to back, but I suppose I could be wrong in this day and age.

    • DB October 22, 2018 at 4:32 pm

      Your’e right, it was the right wing. The article states that (or now states) that ONE of the wings was torn off.

  • Bender October 22, 2018 at 11:48 am

    Wow. Aircraft probably at or near gross weight with plenty of fuel on board. This could have ended very badly. Piloting skills and a huge dose of luck.

  • Mike P October 22, 2018 at 12:13 pm

    I admit I don’t know much about piloting an airplane but I think this pilot should be commended for bringing it down safely.

  • An actual Independent October 23, 2018 at 5:54 pm

    I do know something about piloting an airplane. If the airplane is FWOF (Flying while on fire), and you put it on the ground in such a way that everybody walks away…..tremendous job. Well done. BTW, the plane was not crash landed. It was simply delivered to the insurance company.

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