USU Will Hold Memorial For Student Killed in Plane Crash

On Thursday, Utah State University’s aviation program will hold a memorial and vigil for Frank Marino De Leon Compres, a 21-year-old aviation student who was killed in a plane crash on Tuesday.

The memorial will be held at the St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic church at 6:30 p.m., followed by a candlelight vigil at 8 p.m. on the northwest corner of the Quad on USU’s campus. A shuttle will be available at the Taggart Student Center starting at 5:45 p.m. to take students to the church in Hyde Park.

Compres, a student from the Dominican Republic, was the USU International Student Council President. He was a member of the Dominican Republic Student Association and a resident assistant at Davis Hall.

Luis Armenta, Compres’ friend and USU’s diversity VP, said Compres was well-loved by his friends at the university.

“The thing about Frank is he had a sincere love for his fellow international students, and that pushed him to be a better leader than I feel most others would be,” Armenta said. “I just feel a tremendous loss that Utah State University, specifically international students but also domestic students, lost such a great leader.”

Andreas Wesemann, a USU aviation professor, said Compres was heavily involved as an honors student in USU’s aviation program. He was a part of both the maintenance program and the professional pilot program.

“He met, in one way, everybody in our program,” he said. “Frank was such an energetic, outgoing individual.”

This was the first fatality since the program began in 1939, Wesemann said. This year, there were 180 students in the professional pilot program and an additional 68 students studying airplane maintenance.

Wesemann said the cause of the crash is still unclear. He said the weather was fair that day, the university’s airplanes were carefully maintained and Compres was a well-prepared student who had earned his private pilot’s license. 

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Safety Board are investigating the crash, but Wesemann said it could be weeks until the cause of the crash is clear.

He said planes have been grounded at the university’s airport until students can be briefed about safety guidelines, and grief counselors are available to help students through the tragedy.

“Frank passed away doing what he loved,” Armenta said. “Let’s not think so much about his passing away, but let’s honor his life in how we live this next year, and truly dedicate this next year to Frank.”