Severe turbulence reported moments before deadly plane crash in Utah Lake

Strong turbulence over Utah Lake may have been a contributing factor in a deadly plane crash that killed a student pilot and seriously injured his instructor in early August, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. Chase Day, 25, and his instructor took off from the Provo Airport just before 4 p.m. on Aug. 7 in a Cessna 172 Skyhawk. The plane began climbing before rapidly descending down into a shallow area of Utah Lake, roughly 6,000 feet away from runway 18. Shortly before the plane took off, multiple planes reported moderate to severe turbulence near the Provo Airport, according to the NTSB.

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Scoop News DeskUtah Lake, Utah · Published Monday, September 7, 2026 at 1:39 PM UTCUpdated Tuesday, September 8, 2026 at 9:09 AM UTC

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Investigators added that tall dust formations could be seen moving through the area on security camera footage in the moments before the plane took off. "One dust formation appeared to move across the departure end of runway 18 as the airplane entered the video frame in the upper-right portion of one of the cameras," NTSB investigators reported. "A few seconds later, the airplane began to descend, and a splash was observed about 30 seconds later as the airplane impacted the water." MORE | Utah Lake Plane Crash One dead, one injured after small plane crashes into Utah Lake Family identifies man killed in Utah Lake plane crash as aspiring commercial pilot Investigators said the main wreckage came to a rest on soft mud, submerged under about 18 inches of water.

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