Man dies after crashing plane into his own home just hours after release from jail for assaulting wife
Just hours after being released from prison for assaulting his wife, a Utah man crashed a plane into his home to kill his family. According to a press release by the Payson City Police Department, 47-year-old Duane Youd maneuvred his Cessna 525 Citation Jet straight into his home on Monday at about 2.38 a.m. At the time of the crash, Youd's wife and son were present at the residence. However, they somehow managed to escape the burning house in time. Youd was declared dead on the spot, according to police.
The press release also mentioned that he was arrested for domestic violence against his wife Sunday night. Her identity is yet to be known. Youd made bail just before 1 a.m. Tuesday morning after being booked into the Utah County Jail. He had requested to be escorted to his residence to pick up his belongings, according to the press release.
The statement further described how he left his home with his belongings and his car, only to return later on a plane that he would crash into his home. According to CBS News, reporters learned that the Youd family home was "fully engulfed" in flames after the crash, Sgt. Noemi Sandoval said.
“He is an experienced pilot, and he flew from Spanish Fork airport directly here into the home,” Sandoval said. The Salt Lake Tribune reported that Youd flew for the company that owned the crashed aircraft. After the incident, an overturned car was found outside the home along with bits and pieces of the plane. “We don’t know what his ultimate goal is, whether he meant to hit it low like he did or he meant to hit it higher,” Sandoval said. “The lucky thing for us, if anything, in this whole situation is that we have only destruction of property and we have one male deceased, but it could have been so much worse than what it was.”
A friend of Youd’s spoke to the newspaper, “I can’t believe he was able to fly in like that. If he hadn’t hit the car, I wonder how much more damage this would have done to the house.” In a conversation with the Salt Lake Tribune, Youd's son from a previous marriage, Parker Youd, 17, said he had no idea what his father had planned to do.
“He told me only that it was going to be rough for a little bit, but that was it,” Parker said. According to him, he was possibly the last person his father spoke to. “I said, ‘I love you. Good luck. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Parker said. “He said, ‘I love you, too,’ got in his truck and drove away.”
The emotional son added, “He’s just a good guy. The best dad I could ask for.”