No signs of death dive bid by pilot

A PILOT who stole a plane before deliberately flying it into his own house after being released on bail for assaulting his wife had shown no sign that he intended to hurt himself, his son has revealed.

Duane Youd, 47, an experienced pilot, died when he crashed the twin-engine Cessna 525 into his home near Salt Lake City.

His wife and child were inside the home at the time but were not hurt despite the front part of the two-storey house being engulfed in flames, police said.

The tragic crash happened at 2.30am on Monday, local time.

Youd (pictured) had been arrested on Sunday evening after witnesses called police to report he was assaulting his wife, Utah County Sheriff’s Sergeant Spencer Cannon said.

The couple had been drinking and had visited the American Fork Canyon in the Wasatch Mountains to talk about their problems, authorities said.

Youd was charged with suspicion of domestic violence but posted bail.

Within hours, Youd was taking off in the plane from the Spanish Fork-Springville Airport, about 25km north of his house.

He flew directly to his neighbourhood and smashed the plane into his house, police said.

Photos of the wreckage showed the plane charred and in pieces in the front yard with an overturned and crushed car nearby.

Online court records show that Youd agreed last month to attend marriage and family counselling sessions for six months as part of a plea agreement following an April 8 domestic violence incident in which he was charged with disorderly conduct.

Youd’s 17-year-old son from a previous marriage, Parker Youd, was quoted in The Salt Lake Tribune as saying his father gave no indication he was going to hurt himself.

It is the second bizarre plane incident in the US in recent days.

Last Friday an employee stole a turboprop plane from Sea-Tac International Airport in Seattle and died after crashing it on an island southwest of Tacoma, prompting authorities to rethink security at airports.