SOUTH JORDAN, Utah — A small plane made an emergency landing on northbound Bangerter Highway, between 10400 South and 11400 South, Tuesday afternoon.

At 6:30 p.m., the Utah Department of Transportation said the right lane of Bangerter Highway was closed, along with the off-ramp at 10600 South.

(Scott G. Winterton/Deseret News)

Det. Anthony Hansen with the South Jordan Police Department said it was a single-engine aircraft with two men between the ages of 30 and 40 years old on board.

He said they were heading from Phoenix to the Ogden Regional Airport when they had an engine failure and had to make an emergency landing. Originally, they were trying to make it to the South Valley Regional Airport in West Jordan, but they weren’t able to make it, instead landing on Bangerter at approximately 5:50 p.m.

“This was the best opportunity for him to land safely. Luckily, it was in the opposite direction of traffic and the drivers on the road were paying enough attention and they were all able to just make proper decisions and land safely,” Hansen said.

It was quite the scene for those living up against Bangerter Highway. The Coleman family was making dinner when they heard some commotion near the back yard.

“It is unreal, I mean, you would’ve never imagined! We thought, OK it was someone that maybe hit the barrier or something, but when we heard an airplane, a lot of emotions,” Chris Coleman said.

Fortunately, neither passenger sustained any injuries and there was no damage to the plane, road, nearby vehicles, civilians or civilian property.

Traffic was backed up in the area for several hours due to the incident.

At one point Tuesday night, the Utah Highway Patrol closed all traffic on Bangerter Highway so the plane could be towed to the airport in West Jordan.

Utah Highway Patrol just stopped all traffic to tow the plane back to the airport in West Jordan. Police tell us two men were flying from Phoenix to Ogden when their engine malfunctioned. They tried to make it to the WJ airport, but needed to land on Bangerter.

— Ashley Moser (@AshleyMoser) February 15, 2023

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