On Monday 13 August 2018 at 0238 local time a Cessna 525 CitationJet, serial number 525-0099 and registered as N526CP, crashed into a residence located at 594 East Canyon Road located just southeast of Payson in Utah. There was only the single pilot on board the jet. Two people were in the house at the moment of impact but both survived the crash and escaped the subsequent fire. The jet belonged to a business by the name of Vancon Holdings out of Springville in Utah and was built by Cessna in 1995. There is much more to this story though.
The pilot of the jet, a man named Duane Rhedd Youd, had earlier that day spent time in the Utah County Jail after allegedly assaulting his wife after both had been drinking- both in front of witnesses. Youd was booked into the jail Sunday evening on a domestic violence charge- not his first. However, Youd made bail and was released. At approximately 0030 Youd called Payson police to request an escort to his home, where Youd grabbed some of his belongings and left without incident in his truck.
Cessna 525 CitationJet sister ship to N526CP. By Tomás Del Coro from Las Vegas, Nevada, USA (N484J 1994 Cessna 525 C/N 525-0048) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia CommonsYoud, who was employed by Vancon Holdings as a pilot and indicated he had previously worked for Endeavor Air and was currently employed by Guardian Flight Alaska, evidently went straight to Spanish Fork Airport Springville- Woodhouse Field (KSPK) approximately 15 miles from the crash site. Evidence suggests Youd had full-time access to the Cessna 525 CitationJet at KSPK. The timeline of events suggests Youd took off in N526CP at approximately 0220 and 18 minutes later he crashed the jet- into his own house. While his wife and son were inside it!
Cessna 525 CitationJet sister ship to N526CP. By Tomás Del Coro from Las Vegas, Nevada, USA (N747AC 1997 Cessna 525 C/N 525-0202) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia CommonsYoud reportedly made contact with a shed or garage structure just before hitting his house. The crash doused the house with burning jet fuel, setting it ablaze. Authorities are thankful Youd did not cause more widespread damage. Authorities are hesitant to call this another suicide by aircraft similar to the Horizon Q400 incident in Seattle, but if anything this seems like a clearer cut case than that. Stay tuned- we’ll update this story as events warrant.
Cessna 525 CitationJet sister ship to N526CP. By Alec Wilson from Khon Kaen, Thailand (N224CJ) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Bill Walton is a life-long aviation historian, enthusiast, and aircraft recognition expert. As a teenager Bill helped his engineer father build an award-winning T-18 homebuilt airplane in their up-the-road from Oshkosh Wisconsin basement. Bill is a freelance writer, screenwriter, and humorist, an avid sailor, fledgling aviator, engineer, father, uncle, mentor, teacher, coach, and Navy veteran. Bill lives north of Houston TX under the approach path to KDWH runway 17R, which means he gets to look up at a lot of airplanes. A very good thing.
