Aviation student dies in plane crash near Hyrum
A Utah State University aviation student, Frank De Leon Compres, was killed in a plane crash near Hyrum on Monday afternoon.
De Leon Compres was a 21-year-old senior and a resident assistant at Davis Hall. He was a member of the Dominican Republic Student Association and the USU International Student Council president.
Frank De Leon Compres was the USU International Student Council President.
There was no one else in the plane and no other injuries. Tim Vitale, executive director of public relations at USU, confirmed that De Leon was a fully licensed private pilot and was working on earning additional ratings at the time of the crash.
“This is extremely heart wrenching,” Vitale said. “This was a really, really good kid. Our hearts go out to the family most importantly at this time. This was someone who had a presence here and had contact with many aspects of university life. We’re very sad to hear about this tragedy.”
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.
More details will be added as they are made known.
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Why would they let a student flight person fly alone?? They don’t let student drivers drive alone.
He earned his private license thus allowing an individual to fly alone. Just like you let someone drive a car alone when they earn their driving license.
To answer your question….once you have a private pilots licence you are a pilot licenced to fly unaccompanied in visual flight rules situations. The next level of training would be instrument only training, then twin engine, Etc. He could be a fully licensed VFR private pilot but a student working on the other flight ratings.