CEDAR CITY, Utah — Authorities have released the names of two men killed in a small plane crash Sunday morning in Cedar City.
Darwin Mao, 52, and Richard Essex, 63, were pronounced dead at the scene of the crash near 6500 West, 4000 South. Both men were from Las Vegas.
According to the Iron County Sheriff's Office, Cedar Communication was advised of an "aircraft in distress" about five miles south of the Cedar City Regional Airport around 8:45 a.m. Sunday.
Just "moments later," the North American Navion aircraft struck an approximately 300-foot-tall communications tower and crashed in a field.