Terrible Tragedy

I am so overwhelmed with saddness...I was just looking at the Salt Lake Tribune online and read this horrible news. I visited this dermatology office a couple of times and was always impressed with the happy, friendly staff. It's so sad now to think that most of them are gone. This is such a huge loss for the community of Cedar City.
May we remember all of those loved ones affected by this crash in our prayers.

10 dead: Cedar City clinic staff on 'mission of service' killed in Moab plane crash
The Salt Lake Tribune and wire services
Article Last Updated: 08/23/2008 12:24:14 PM MDT


12:23 AM-MOAB -- A nine-person Cedar City medical staff was returning Friday evening from Moab when their plane crashed near Canyonlands Field airport.
There were no survivors. Staff members of the Red Canyon Aesthetics & Medical Spa died instantly in the fiery crash along with their pilot, David White, about 6 p.m., said Grand County Sheriff James Nyland.
The twin-engine plane was fully engulfed in flames when emergency responders arrived late Friday, about two hours after the crash, at the site about 2 miles from the airport, Nyland said. The crash was discovered after authorities learned of a fire just before dark.
Victims included Dr. Lansing Ellsworth, who was the director of Red Canyon, a company with dermatology clinics in three states.
The atmosphere was somber Saturday morning at the Ellsworth's Cedar City home where family members had gathered to cope with the tragedy.
Rand Colbert, a physician and co-worker of Ellsworth's, said the family wanted others to know about the group's positive work.
"Everybody's reaching out right now, the support has been great," Colbert said. "Everybody's having a hard time. It's hard to put into words how devastating this is."
Leavitt Group Chief Executive Officer Dane Leavitt, whose company owned the plane, said White had flown the route to Moab and others many times.
"They were on a mission of service and this tragedy will leave a huge hole in the hearts of family and friends and communities they served," Leavitt said. "They were great, good, kind, professional people seeking to serve and we are all deeply saddened."
Leavitt said the medical team left Cedar City about 6 a.m. Friday to work with clients.
"It was a flight [White] would have done many times," Leavitt said. White was an airline transport pilot license and had lived in Cedar City for about six years.
The crash's cause is unknown, but Leavitt termed the plane well-maintained.
Representatives of the National Transportation Safety Board have begun an investigation, officials said.
The crash also killed Ellsworth's son, Dallon, 24, who was studying pre-medicine. Other fatalities included David Goddard, 60; Mandy Johnson; Marcie Tillery, 29; Valerie Imlay, 52; Keith Shumway, 29; Dallon Ellsworth, 24; Camie Vigil, 25; and Cecilee Goddard, 31.
Ellsworth recently began a monthly skin clinic in Moab, Nyland said.
Goddard, a physician's assistant, was a fun-loving person who produced bio-diesel for his vehicles in his garage, said former wife, Ann Goddard.
"He was a fun, outgoing guy and just a wonderful person," said Ann Goddard.
She said their daughter, Cecilee, a medical assistant, was also killed in the crash.
When not helping at the clinic with her father, Cecilee, who leaves behind a 2-year-old daughter, Zoe, was also a trained aesthetician and had a spa where she did facial massages and chemical peels and other skin treatments, Ann Goddard said.
"She was a beautiful girl who was fun, outgoing and artistic," she added.
The crash occurred just before 6 p.m., but was undiscovered for a few hours until authorities received a report of a fire. Grand County deputies discovered the wreck while investigating the fire.
"I'm assuming whatever happened, happened quick. They were not that far from the airport," Nyland said.
The airplane was a twin-engine, turbo prop, Beechcraft King Air King Air A-100, said Mike Fergus, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration in Seattle. He said that "to the best of our knowledge" no flight plan had been filed for the trip, but he said that isn't unusual.
Ellsworth's company offers cancer prevention and treatment expertise to eight communities in southern and central Utah, northern Arizona and Nevada.
NTSB Aviation Accident Investigator Josh Cawthra said the investigation will taken between three and five days.