10 Dead In Utah Plane Crash

King Air A-100 Crashes And Burns Two Miles From Canyonland Fields Airport

(AP)  A twin-engine plane crashed and burned near an airport not far from Arches National Park in southeastern Utah, killing the pilot and nine passengers connected with a group of skin cancer clinics, an official said Saturday.

The plane was fully engulfed in flames when emergency responders arrived late Friday at the site about 2 miles from the Canyonlands Field airport, and there were no survivors, Grand County Sheriff James Nyland said.

The victims included the director of a company with dermatology clinics in three states and staff members.

Nyland said the plane had taken off from the airport, about 18 miles northwest of Moab.

Lt. Steve White told KCYN radio in Moab that the plane "pancaked" and skidded along the ground.

The airplane was a King Air A-100, said Mike Fergus, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration in Seattle. He said that "to the best of our knowledge" no flight plan had been filed for the trip, but he said that isn't unusual.

Representatives of the National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA were expected at the scene Saturday, officials said.

Nyland said the victims were the director of Red Canyon Aesthetics & Medical Spa, a dermatology clinic headquartered in Cedar City, his clinic staff and the pilot.

He identified them as pilot David White; Dr. Lansing Ellsworth; David Goddard; Mandy Johnson; Marcie Tillery, 29; Valerie Imlay, 52; Keith Shumway, 29; Dallon Ellsworth, 24; Camie Vigil, 25; and Cecilee Goddard, 25.

Lansing Ellsworth had recently started a monthly skin clinic in Moab, Nyland said. Red Canyon Aesthetics has seven clinics in Utah, two in Nevada and one in Page, Arizona, according to the company's Web site.

The airplane was owned by Leavitt Group Wings, part of the Cedar City-based Leavitt Group, an insurance brokerage. The dermatology group had a time-share agreement with Leavitt Group for use of the plane, said chief executive officer Dane Leavitt.

The group's clinics focused on preventing and treating skin cancer in smaller communities that might otherwise go without care, Leavitt said. "I'm sure the tragedy of this circumstance will hit all of those communities," he said.

He said they left Cedar City on Friday morning to spend the day at their clinic in Moab, and were likely starting their return flight when the plane crashed.

The pilot was an employee of Leavitt Group Wings, Leavitt said.

Moab is about 245 miles southeast of Salt Lake City.

[whiskyrokkr]

Seem''s like there''s been a lot of plane crashes lately.

[lasjayhawk]

nancy: with all due respect leavitt didn''t cut corners on maintenance, and a turboprop engine will run on about anything that burns.

jw, it had the walters STC

[jw218389]

Pratt & Whitney PT6 Series is one of the safest and most reliable engines ever made.

I wonder if it was the density altitude (hot temperatures in Moab could make the plane harder to takeoff) combined with a high takeoff weight (10 people is max capacity)that added up to very poor or no climb performance...

It''s very sad...

[pete_in_az]

Here in Canada, our economy isn''''t too bad. Could the planes and parts be coming from the U.S., I wonder?:)
Or maybe they are from China?

Posted by erasmus81 at 09:44 PM : Aug 23, 2008
---

Those engines come from P&W Canada, so who knows if it isn''t the economy of Canada it might be the lysol inhaling.

[minnick8-2009]

"If you really must know, as the economy turns sucky the fly-by-nights begin to cut corners on maintenance and the maintenance shops turn to counterfeit parts."

Posted by Nancy_Naive at 07:59 PM : Aug 23, 2008

The people who were in the plane were very prominent professional people and their families. The plane owner also owns an insurance business. This is a small town and in a town this size, people don''t cut corners on quality or they soon don''t have any business. In the canyon country of the southwest desert there are a lot of convection currents and down drafts. Authorities haven''t investigated as of yet, but I wouldn''t be surprised in the plane just got caught in a down draft that the pilot couldn''t get out of.

[checkinin]

May God Bless all the Families of this tragedy. Does anyone not have any compassion for for such a terrible accident. Just remember the families of all the deceased. And try not to be so carless and thoughtless. And Thank God it wasn''t you, or one of your family member''s or a friend. My prayers are with the Family members.

[erasmus81]

"If you really must know, as the economy turns sucky the fly-by-nights begin to cut corners on maintenance and the maintenance shops turn to counterfeit parts."

Posted by Nancy_Naive at 07:59 PM : Aug 23, 2008

Here in Canada, our economy isn''t too bad. Could the planes and parts be coming from the U.S., I wonder?:)
Or maybe they are from China?

[rosieod4prez]

"Wonder if SPF-1500 would have been of any use? -Posted by Nancy_Naive



Why don''t you let us know when yo get to hell if it works for you.

[irliberal]

Wow... there''s about as much left of that plane as there is confidence in GW Bush.

Okay, well, maybe a lil bit more plane than confidence.

[sistatee-2009]

On the positive side, they didn''t die from skin cancer.

[pollroller1]

What''''s with all the small plane crashes?
Where I live, I think we have had like 5, and they were all within a two week period. There have been a lot of plane crashes lately. I always thought that those King Airs were supposedly safe planes.

Posted by erasmus81 at 02:45 PM

[erasmus81]

What''s with all the small plane crashes?
Where I live, I think we have had like 5, and they were all within a two week period.