NTSB: USU pilot, student were ‘spin training’ before crash in Mendon

SALT LAKE CITY — A new report from the Nation Transportation Safety Board said two men from the Utah State University aviation program were working on “spin” training when their plane crashed in Cache County last month.

Blake Shumway, a certified flight instructor at USU, and student Michael Carpenter died in the crash in a field outside of Mendon on June 24.

The NTSB released the preliminary report last week.

Siblings Madison, Ethan, and Ashlyn Harris were outside near their home in Mendon when they saw the plane go down.

“We were just up here at the canal behind our house, just going for a walk, and then just looked up and saw a plane spiraling down,” Madison told KSL TV.

Two members of USU Aviation program killed in plane crash

Her brother Ethan said, “It didn’t make much of a noise. It was just kind of a thunk. You wouldn’t be able to hear it from too far away.”

The airplane was in an aviation practice area about 10 miles from the Logan-Cache Airport where it maneuvered for about 30 minutes.

“According to the flight school’s chief pilot, the purpose of the flight was to conduct spin training for the pilot receiving instruction,” the NTSB report stated. “Surveillance video footage of the accident sequence was located and showed the airplane in a fully developed spin prior to impacting terrain.”

The report did not indicate if there was any malfunction that may have led to the crash.

The NTSB will release a final report later.