Husband Crashes Stolen Plane Into Home Hours After A Domestic Violence Incident
Hours after 47-year-old Duane Youd was involved in a domestic violence incident, he returned to the family home and plowed a stolen plane into the building. His wife and child were inside at the time but escaped with their lives. Youd did not survive the incident.
According to USA Today, Youd’s Utah home was “fully engulfed” in flames after he flew into it early on Monday.
The event occurred after a domestic violence incident that saw Youd booked with the Utah County Jail on Sunday evening according to Sgt. Noemi Sandoval of the Payson Police Department during a video interview that was broadcast on KSL5 TV‘s Facebook page. Youd had made bail on Sunday night, however, and returned to wreak havoc on his family home with the stolen plane.
CBC News reports that Youd returned to the family home sometime around, or shortly after, 2.30 a.m. on Monday morning, and flew a twin-engine Cessna 525 into the house. His wife and son managed to escape injury as they fled from the burning house.
“The house was fully engulfed, so there really wasn’t the ability to render any aid to the pilot,” Sandoval said.
According to reports, Duane Youd stole the plane from the company he worked for, and he is considered an experienced pilot.
“He is an experienced pilot, and he flew from Spanish Fork Airport directly here into the home,” Sandoval revealed in her statement on the incident.
The wife and boy escaped safely, but the pilot, 47-year-old Duane Youd, did not survive. https://t.co/ZwPUVPMhsG
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) August 13, 2018
Regardless of his experience, Youd also managed to clip a shed while approaching the house. Police believe this may have altered his trajectory slightly in the descent.
“We don’t know what his ultimate goal was, whether he meant to hit it low like he did or whether he meant to hit it higher,” Sandoval said.
Although, she did caution that the incident “could have been so much worse than what it was.”
According to USA Today, this was the second domestic violence incident Youd had been involved with this year. Both times an arrest was involved. The most recent incident took place at American Fork Canyon where Youd and his wife had been drinking. Witnesses report they “saw Youd assault his wife before the Utah County Sheriff’s Office took him into custody.”
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