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Officials identify victims in Kane Co. plane crash

Posted at 10:28 AM, May 30, 2012
and last updated 2012-06-01 10:34:33-04

UPDATE: On Friday, Kane County officials released the names the four men killed in the plane crash. 

Joshua Stubblefield, 31, was the pilot. Chris Spircu, 44, Paul Andrews, 32, and Todd Stuntzner, 45, were passengers.  All of the men were from Las Vegas.

The FAA and NTSB are still investigating the crash.

ORIGINAL: KANE COUNTY, Utah -- Kane County emergency managers say four people were killed in a plane crash Tuesday afternoon. 

The plane, a single-engine Cirrus SR20, took off from the North Las Vegas Airport for Bryce Canyon shortly before 11:00 a.m. Mountain Time Tuesday. It crashed around 3:00 p.m.

The company that owns the aircraft reported it missing when it failed to arrive at its destination. The plane had an emergency transmitter that alerted the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center in Florida to the crash. The AFRCC contacted the Civil Air Patrol in St. George, who dispatched a plane and confirmed the location of the crash site.

The Civil Air Patrol then contacted the Kane County Sheriff's Office, who dispatched their own plane to verify the location of the crash site. The Kane County Sheriff's Office search was called off around 1:00 a.m. Wednesday and resumed at dawn.

The Kane County Sheriff's Office confirmed the crash site is on a mountain ridge in a very remote area about 18 miles north of Highway 9 and East North Fork Road.

The crash is being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration. The victims' names were not released.

photos courtesy Kane County Emergency Services.