Nine killed when skydivers’ plane crashes in Great Salt Lake

Paul Foy

Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2001 | 12:32 p.m.

TOOELE, Utah - When Salt Lake's weather was bad, a group of area skydivers would fly to Mesquite, Nev., to enjoy their sport.

They did so this weekend and flew back. While attempting to land in a driving snowstorm, their plane spiraled into Great Salt Lake, killing all nine aboard.

Searchers found seven bodies washed up on shore early Monday and the two other victims floating in the lake.

The 35-year-old twin-engine Beech 65 was headed for Tooele Valley Airport, about five miles south of the lake. It crashed in 5 feet of water about a mile offshore about 5:30 p.m. Sunday.

Gary Parks, weekend manager at the airport, heard the plane about 5:20 p.m., but visibility was about a quarter mile and he couldn't see it.

He didn't worry, having unshakable confidence in the pilot, John T. Cashman, 41, of Sandy.

"No, I didn't have a bad feeling," Parks said. "He was the best, most competent pilot I'd ever seen in my life."

He thought the plane might have landed at another airport. No flight plan had been filed, the pilot never called for help and the plane was not reported missing until hours later, when relatives became concerned.

Radar tapes indicated the plane was banking for a final turn and then spiraled into the lake, Sheriff Frank Scharmann said.

Federal Aviation Administration officials refused to elaborate about what the tapes show

Ray Wilson, manager of the Mesquite Municipal Airport, said the Skydive Salt Lake group had arrived there Friday afternoon.

"This group makes about six trips a year down here to Mesquite when the weather is bad in Salt Lake City," Wilson said. "I let them use one of the hangers to sleep in to save them some money."

Wilson said he jumped with the group this weekend for the first time.

"They were nice enough to come and invite me to jump for free," he said. "It usually cost about $150.

"They were a good group of people," he said.

Among the skydivers killed were Mike C. Hurren, 51, Midvale, a co-owner of Skydive Salt Lake, and his wife, Gayle Hurren, 45.

Others were Lisa K. Ellis, 34, Nathan B. Hall, 28, Denise Helen Stott, 26, all of Salt Lake City; Merriah M. Hutson, 25, Sandy; Charles T. Wilson, 31, hometown unknown; and Jay Donald Johnson, 24, of Providence.

Johnson traveled the world filming skydivers and base jumpers for Johnson Productions, a company he started and ran, according to his mother, Jane Johnson.

Skydiving was the "love of his life," she said.

He was a member of the Utah Skydiving Team, which placed fourth in a national competition last fall.

"It's ironic it wasn't the sport that's taken Jay, it was the airplane," she said.