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PAYSON — One person died and others were injured after a small plane made an emergency landing in Payson on Monday evening, leading to a chain-reaction crash with cars on the freeway, the Utah Highway Patrol confirmed Tuesday.
Utah Highway Patrol said the plane experienced mechanical failure causing an engine to quit about 8:11 p.m. The pilot and student pilot in the small plane successfully landed on the freeway, where it was blocking the right lane. Multiple cars came to a stop in the lane behind it.
Several people attempted to push the plane off the road by hand, UHP said. A Dodge pickup truck came upon the stopped traffic but was unable to stop before hitting the four other vehicles, pushing them into the plane, UHP said.
Four people inside the cars involved in the crash were taken to hospitals with injuries ranging from minor to serious, according to UHP.
The driver of the first vehicle that was hit — Valdecir De Oliveira, 58, of Santaquin — died at the hospital, Utah Highway Patrol said Tuesday.
Traffic was diverted off the freeway for about three hours while crews cleaned up the scene and the airplane was towed.
No one in the plane was injured. UHP Sgt. Jeremy Matthews said the plane was in a dimly lit area, and the plane itself wasn't very well lit.
The crash remained under investigation late Monday, and troopers worked with the company that owns the plane to figure out how to move it to a safe place, Matthews said.
Photos shared from the scene show the plane landed parallel to the freeway median without any visible damage.
Contributing: Andrew Adams
