Ten dead in plane crash in Utah

A twin-engine plane crashed near an airport not far from Arches National Park in southeastern Utah, killing all 10 people on board, an official said on Saturday.

The plane was fully engulfed in flames when emergency responders arrived late Friday at the site about 3.22 kilometres from the Canyonlands Field airport, and there were no survivors, Grand County Sheriff James Nyland said.

Nyland said the plane had taken off from the airport, about 29 kilometres northwest of Moab.

Lieutenant 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 founder of a dermatology clinic, members of his staff and the pilot, all from Cedar City in southwestern Utah.

He identified them as pilot David White; 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.