Small plane crashes on highway near Vernal

Two men were injured when their small plane crashed into a semi on State Route 191 near Vernal.

Utah Highway Patrol troopers told the Deseret News the plane left Layton this morning headed toward Vernal, where it was going to make a stop.

"The pilot reported engine trouble and they were going to make an emergency landing on 191 about seven to eight miles north of Vernal," UHP Trooper Cameron Roden said.

The plane came in for a landing on the road, where its left wing collided with a semi pulling a double trailer full of gravel.

"It broke the left wing off the plane and it pivoted around so the front of the plane hit the rear trailer of the semi," Roden said.

The father and son inside the plane suffered injuries that the UHP said did not appear to be life threatening. The father had facial injuries, the son had an arm injury. They were taken to Ashley Regional Medical Center in Vernal to be treated.

The truck driver was not injured, but the semi was towed. The Federal Aviation Administration is en route to examine the plane and determine a more specific cause of what forced the plane to make an emergency landing.

---

E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com