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USU Student Dies In Plane Crash In Southern Utah

plane crash gorge
Chris Holmes

The bodies have been recovered and identified, but the questions remain in the crash of a single-engine aircraft in the Virgin River Gorge Sunday night. The victims were teenage brothers from Clinton, Utah.

Daulton Whatcott, 19, just received his pilot's license. He was excited about pursuing a career in commercial aviation according to a Facebook post by a family member.

Daulton was accompanied by his 16-year-old brother Jaxon. The two were en-route to a basketball tournament in Las Vegas.

The investigation is by no means a simple matter- given the rugged terrain where the plane went down, says Trish Carter of the Mohave County Sheriff's Office, speaking to the media.

"It's a very jagged, very steep area, and our technical rope team has been brought in from search and rescue. So it's going to be quite a process," Carter said.
The plane was registered to a company in Bountiful.