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Air Crush Sudclens Valley

Click to see original imagelt was a tremendous search and rescue effort, with numerous people wanting to help, a great deal of sophistication in the use of devices and equipment, and a display of human concern and courage under difficult circumstances. In the end, the missing airplane – carrying four members of the Dr. Arden Kitchen family of Pleasant Grove and pilot Dale Stoker of Ogden – was found high on the Middle Slide Canyon side of Spanish Fork Peak Saturday. But the hoped-for news – that the group which had left last Tuesday on a twin-engine plane flight for San Francisco would be found alive – wasn’t to be. All five occupants were killed as the plane crashed into trees on the it is seldom a single’ tragnc event or search and rescue mission has sparked such wide interest, concern, and involvement. And all of Utah Valley, it seemed, was saddened by the tragedy. Out of the search and rescue operation came many stories of heroic and skilIful volunteer effort waged in frigid weather. Ground parties climbed at times in snow greater than waist-deep even to the armpits. Among the searchers were a number of doctor – dentist friends of Dr. Kitchen and many other personal friends and acquaintances of the victims. Seventeen climbers were involved in an avalanche and it was miraculous that only three had to be taken to the hospital. The initial break in the search came Thursday evening when Jean Stoker, brother of the pilot of the ill-fated plane, became the first to hear a signal from an emergency locator transmitter (ELT) in the missing craft. Another came Saturday when the Air Force helicopter sighted the wreckage, mostly buried in snow. In the days ahead, there undoubtedly will be many questions to ask and facts to weigh as all facets of the tragedy and search operation are reviewed. Suffice it here to express heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims, and to praise the concern and monumental efforts of all agencies and individuals in the search and rescue.