Drivers saw plane hit cliff in deadly crash
LITTLEFIELD, Ariz. — A federal investigator says the pilot of a small plane that crashed in far northwestern Arizona was flying well below what’s allowed by regulation.
Newly licensed pilot, 19-year-old Daulton Whatcott, and 16-year-old Jaxon Whatcott, were headed to a basketball tournament in Nevada when the single-engine Cessna crashed near the Arizona-Utah border on July 20. The brothers from Clinton, Utah, died.
National Transportation Safety Board investigator Larry Lewis said Thursday that motorists on Interstate 15 saw the plane hit a canyon wall, about 100 feet above the elevation of the road. Lewis says the plane should have been flying at a minimum 500 feet.
Preliminary information indicates the plane rounded a corner and turned upside down before striking the canyon wall and sparking a small fire.
A full report isn’t expected for months.