Four dead in plane crash near Zion National Park

Four people were killed after a single-engine plane crashed Tuesday near Zion National Park, authorities reported Wednesday.

The plane crashed at about 3 p.m., according to Kane County Sheriff's Office officials, but the wreckage was not found until early Wednesday morning.

A Cirrus SR20 departed from North Las Vegas Airport for Bryce Canyon shortly before 10 a.m. Tuesday, according to Ian Gregor, communications manager for the Federal Aviation Administration Western-Pacific Region.

The plane was equipped with an emergency transmitter beacon, local authorities said, and at one point Tuesday, the Air Force Rescue Coordination Rescue Center, located in Florida, received a signal from the transmitter. They alerted local authorities, and gave them the exact location of the crash site.

Kane County sheriff's authorities were sent to the remote area to search at the ground level, and also conducted an aerial search, but the search was called off early Wednesday at about 1 a.m. The search resumed at daybreak, authorities said, and the plane was found at the top of a remote ridge, about 18 miles north of Highway 9 and North Fork Road near the Clear Creek Ranch airport.

All of those on board the plane died.

The bodies were removed from the wreckage, Kane County dispatchers confirmed.

Gregor said both the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the accident, and were en route to the crash site Wednesday.

According to FAA registry, the plane was registered to the company Hunt Aviation, based out of Las Vegas. The plane was available for rent through the Las Vegas-based training center I Fly Elite, according to their website. Attempts to contact I Fly Elite were unsuccessful Wednesday afternoon.

jmiller@sltrib.com

Twitter: jm_miller