UPDATED: Small plane crashes into Utah Lake on approach to Provo airport; Victim identified | News, sports, jobs

Courtesy of Provo City

The bodies of two men who were in a small plane that crashed into Utah Lake Friday morning have been found, the Utah County Sheriff's Office reported Friday evening.

The men are 43-year-old Michael Hyrum Cox of St. George and 46-year-old Mark Andrew Johnson of Washington, Sgt. Spencer Cannon told the Daily Herald.

The plane was on approach to Provo Airport when it was cleared to land, but went into the water shortly after 10 a.m

The National Transportation Safety Board said in an X-Post Friday afternoon that the plane was a Cirrus SR-22.

“We know that when the plane crashed, we had some witnesses who were in boats nearby and saw the plane hit the water pretty hard,” said Sgt. Garett Dutson in a briefing Friday afternoon.

Courtesy of the Utah County Sheriff's Office

These witnesses called authorities to alert them to the incident.

In a briefing Friday afternoon, Dutson told media that crews had located the wreckage near the boat harbor but had not recovered the bodies of the two men at this time.

A private company with a barge tried to pull the plane out of the lake, but it was submerged in 8.5 feet of water and mud, complicating the effort, Dutson explained.

The survival rate of the two men was unknown early Friday afternoon, but the likelihood was slim, officials said. “As far as we know, no matter how hard the plane hits the water, it's not looking very good in terms of survival rates,” Dutson told reporters.

Authorities did not confirm how far the small plane flew, but KUTV reported that the flight took off from St. George Regional Airport.

Courtesy of the Utah County Sheriff's Office

Utah Lake State Park was closed to visitors for most of Friday during the recovery effort.

Multiple crews from the sheriff's office and its search and rescue team, Utah State Parks, the Provo and Saratoga Springs fire departments and the Utah Highway Patrol dive team assisted on the lake.

The NTSB will conduct an investigation into what caused the plane to crash into the lake.