WEST JORDAN, Utah (ABC 4 News) - A small plane crashed into a West Jordan soccer field on Tuesday.
The two men on board that plane have died. Police have released the names of the two they are Jared Despain of Nephi and Brent Simmons of Manti.
There was no report of anyone being hurt on the ground, but rescue personnel were reportedly administering CPR on two people.
The crash, or hard landing, was reported to have happened at 8000 South 4000 West.
The single-engine airplane took off from South Valley Regional Airport with two people on board. Witnesses told police that the plane had trouble gaining altitude, and crashed shortly after takeoff in the soccer field located just south of the airport.
"I knew it was going to happen," said Dan McCullough who is a pilot and saw the plane take off. "It was surreal. I knew it was in trouble."
Within minutes after takeoff the small experimental plane crashed onto the empty soccer field.
Flight instructor Jared Despain survived but the student pilot died at the scene.
"The doctors don't give him much hope," said Brian Mclaws, Despain's brother-in-law. "Right now he's in life support and in a deep coma and they're saying their good-byes."
McCullough saw the plane struggling at take off. He said it reached heights of about fifty feet and the nose appeared to be straight into the air. He said it would then come down and back up several times.
"He started to turn to the right," McCullough said. "And when he started to turn to the right his upper wing caught, his lower stalled and he went in and struck straight down."
He said the plane dropped onto the field and then splintered. He and others ran to see if anyone was alive.
"He looked like a rag doll," he said. "There was no structure with bones and the other guy was laing on the ground face down."
Despain has been a pilot for eight years according to his brother-in-law. Tuesday may have been his last take off.
He said his wife remains at his bedside at Intermountain Health Center.
"He loves his little boys," said Mclaws. "He's got a three-year old boy Sam and a three-month old Max. And he just loves them dearly."
Mclaws said Despain resides in Nephi and is a school teacher. A trust fund in Jared Despain's name has been set up at any Zions Bank.
Police say The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation and Safety Board will be involved in any further investigation.
There was no word on where the plane was headed.
The plane was a Pulsar, which is listed as "experimental" by the FAA.
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