Driver Caught In Plane Crash Supports Look At Ogden Airport Safety
Jan 17, 2020, 11:15 PM
ROY, Utah – When she learned of the plane crash Wednesday that left a pilot dead, Samantha Sandoval said she just started shaking.
“I knew it wasn’t a matter of if, but when it was going to happen again,” Sandoval said. “I knew.”
Officials said the crash that killed 64-year-old Dave Goode was the fifth in less than four years near the Ogden-Hinckley Airport.
“My condolences go out to the Goode family,” Sandoval said. “It’s tragic.”
Sandoval said she still suffers trauma—including not wanting to leave her house—from the 2017 crash in which a plane struck her car on 1900 West in Roy as it attempted to make an emergency landing.
“I just find myself ducking in my own house,” she said. “I don’t like to be behind the wheel, I don’t like to drive.”
After her experience, Sandoval said Friday she was glad Roy city leaders were pushing for a look into the crashes and any possible commonalities between them.
Earlier Friday, Roy Mayor Robert Dandoy said he was working to put together a committee of leaders from multiple cities, aviation experts and airport administrators to look at every possible angle — from the planes themselves to flight paths to the city’s encroachment on airport boundaries.
On Thursday, Roy Police Chief Carl Merino said Roy city officials were concerned by the number of crashes.
“At this point, I don’t feel I can tell them we don’t have a problem that needs to be looked at,” Merino said.
Ogden-Hinckley Airport Manager Bryant Garrett defended the safety record of the airport but also said he would do anything to help if it meant improving safety.
“I just want to absolutely shoot down any innuendo that there is anything unsafe occurring at this airport,” Garrett told KSL. “This is a highly-regulated industry and the only thing I would say to people who have some criticism is don’t you believe that if there is some low-hanging fruit, some simple way to fix it, we would’ve done it years ago?”
Sandoval, who remains in the middle of litigation over the 2017 crash, said she hopes the committee will find meaningful answers.
“I’m grateful to see something finally being said and done,” Sandoval said. “Something needs to be looked into, definitely.”
