UPDATE: Investigators release names of victims killed in plane crash

Published at 12:35 pm, March 14, 2016 | Updated at 9:32 pm, March 14, 2016

Nate Eaton, EastIdahoNews.com

Video by Dan Dockstader, Star Valley Independent

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IDAHO FALLS — Bonneville County sheriff investigators have released the names of four people killed in a plane crash north of Alpine, Wyoming, near Palisades Reservoir.

Dr-Summers — Brook Summers | Courtesy photo

Thomas “Brook” Summers, 39, and Heidi Summers, 36, along with Jerry “David” Anderson, 40, and Jessica Anderson, 38, all died in the crash that occurred hours before they were found Sunday afternoon. All of the victims were from Idaho Falls.

Brook Summers was a dentist at Family Dental Health Center in Idaho Falls. According to a biography on the company website, he and Heidi had four children.

Alpine_Crash — Photo by Dan Dockstader, Star Valley Independent

A Deadly Trend

The Star Valley area has had five small aircraft crashes in the last calendar year. Four of those have now resulted in fatalities. Here is a recap of the previous airplane crashes in the past 12 months in the Star Valley area leading up to Sunday’s accident.

On March 13, 2015, The Afton Police Department responded to the Afton Lincoln County Airport where a pilot from Canada flipped his plane. There were no injuries.
On July 21, 2015, Bard Lefevre, 22 of Grover, and Chad Burton, 64 of Auburn, both were killed when their 1947 Aeronca Model 7BCM (Army 11 16A) crashed when making a candy drop for a local church group.
On October 15, 2015, Travis M. Hamilton, 43 of Edmond, Oklahoma, was killed when his single-engine plane crashed above the Palisades Reservoir.
On January 4, 2016, local Search & Rescue, the Alpine Fire & EMS responded to the upper Palisades Reservoir area where Reade Genzlinger, 61 of Alpine and Bryn Athens, Pennsylvania an a 17-year old female from Chapel Hill, North Carolina died when their Yak 52 Russian trainer aircraft crashed during a recreational flight.
(March 13, 2016 3 p.m.) Reports of an aircraft accident in the Alpine area resulted in area first responders reporting to the area. Initial information indicated that the incident occurred near the Alpine Airport. The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office was first on the scene and secured the area for Bonneville County authorities who were called in to assist. Four people are believed to have died in the crash.

This information was originally published in the Star Valley Independent. It is used here with permission.

David and Jessica Anderson were the parents of three children, according to Ryan Andersen (no relation), the president of Andersen Hitches. David Anderson had worked with the company for the past 11 years.

“He was such a great guy and took care of business very well,” Andersen told EastIdahoNews.com. “Most importantly he was a family guy. Everything was about his family.”

Andersen says David got his pilot’s license last fall and was piloting the plane when it went down.

Investigators are on the scene working to determine what caused the accident.

“It was apparent it was not a survivable accident do to the extent of the damage and fire,” Lincoln County Sheriff Shane Johnson told the Star Valley Independent on Monday.

The airplane was a four-passenger, 1958 Cessna, 182A, single engine, fixed-wing, according to investigators. The plane left the Alpine airport early Sunday morning and crashed shortly after takeoff.

The National Transportation Safety Board is now in charge of the investigation.

The Summers and Anderson families were well-known in east Idaho, and Andersen said losing them is devastating.

“Dave cared about everyone and was a super friendly guy,” he said. “We’re really going to miss him.”

A Deadly Trend

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