Student dead after plane crashes during solo flight training
By Ben Lockhart | Posted Jul 18th, 2016 @ 10:54pm
10PM: USU aviation student dead after plane crashes during solo flight training
Andrew Adams, KSL TV
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CACHE COUNTY — A Utah State University aviation student died in a plane crash Monday while flying as part of the school's pilot training program Monday afternoon.
Frank Marino De Leon Compres, 21, was flying over an area of hilly farmland between Hyrum and Paradise, according to authorities, when his single-engine, DA-40 Diamond Aircraft plane crashed just after noon.
Emergency responders found De Leon Compres dead. Nobody else was aboard the aircraft, said Cache County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Matt Bilodeau.
Additional aircraft from the Logan-Cache Airport were used to spot the crashed plane, Bilodeau said. The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the cause of the crash.
De Leon Compres, who was from the Dominican Republic, was a senior in Utah State's aviation technology and professional pilot programs. He was flying to obtain more solo flight hours required to get his commercial pilot license, said university spokeswoman Maren Aller.
Others in the program are stunned and saddened by the student's sudden death, Aller said. De Leon Compres was also a member of USU's Dominican Republic Student Association and a resident assistant at the university's Davis Hall.
The plane took off from Logan-Cache Airport. There was a 6 mph wind at the time, but flying conditions were considered satisfactory with no applicable restrictions, Aller said.
Aller said De Leon Compres' death is the first in the history of the USU aviation program, which was founded in 1939. About 180 students are currently enrolled in the professional pilot program at the university.
Aviation professor Andreas Wesemman praised De Leon Compres, saying he was an honors student whom other students admired.
“He was one of our sharpest," Wesemman said in a statement. "He was well-motivated and well-liked in the program. This is a sad day for the USU aviation program.”
Contributing: Cleon Wall, Andrew Adams
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USU aviation student killed in plane crash south of Hyrum
By Amy Macavinta staff writer
Updated 17 hrs ago
A 21-year-old Utah State University aviation student was killed in a plane crash in Cache County on Monday.
According to USU, Frank de Leon Compres was a senior in the Aviation Technology program in the College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences and was working on solo flight hours for his commercial license. He was a member of the USU Dominican Republic Student Association.
Dispatchers paged the crash just after noon, but they had very little information to offer — there has been a report of a plane down, possibly near Blacksmith Fork Canyon.
For the next two hours, the search for the single-engine plane spanned an area from Blacksmith Fork to Mt. Sterling and south to Paradise. When dispatchers were finally able to obtain GPS coordinates for a potential site of the crash, they were led to a ridge at the top of Meridian Road near Baxter Hollow Road.
However, the wreckage was not visible from that point, and the search continued into the river bottoms below. A helicopter from the Department of Public Safety flew over the area, until the plane was finally spotted at about 2:15 p.m.
Cache County Sheriff Chad Jensen said the last radio contact with de Leon Compres was at about 10:30 a.m., and the beacon was set off a little after noon, so the crash is believed to have occurred at some point in between.
The plane crashed into a flat grassy area east of the Little Bear River, but his direction of travel and points of impact are unknown, nor is there any indication of what may have caused the crash.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the plane is a 2006 Diamond DA40F, a fixed-wing, single-engine plane registered to Utah State University.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash, but they will not be on-scene until Tuesday, Jensen said.
De Leon Compres, who is from the Dominican Republic, was also a member of the USU International Student Council and passionate about the environment. In 2015 and 2016, he led efforts to make “A” on Old Main Tower go dark for Earth Hour to bring awareness to climate change.
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Date:
18-JUL-2016
Time: 12:00+
Type:
Diamond DA-40 F Diamond Star
Owner/operator: Utah State University
Registration: N419FP
C/n / msn: 40.FC019
Fatalities: Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Other fatalities: 0
Airplane damage: Substantial
Location: Cache County near Hyrum, between Mount Sterling & Paradise, UT -
United States of America Phase: En route
Nature: Training
Departure airport:
Destination airport:
Narrative:
The aircraft impacted open field terrain in Cache County south of Hyrum, between Mount Sterling and Paradise, Utah. The airplane sustained substantial damage and the solo student pilot onboard received fatal injuries.
Sources:
https://www.ksl.com/?sid=40710091&nid=148
http://news.hjnews.com/accidents_disaster/single-engine-plane-crash-reported-near-hyrum/article_2cd22ebe-ca95-5e66-8835-cd5222a1825f.html
http://www.asias.faa.gov/pls/apex/f?p=100:96:::::P96_ENTRY_DATE,P96_MAKE_NAME,P96_FATAL_FLG:19-JUL-16,DIAMOND
http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=N419FP
http://www.jetphotos.net/photo/7517448