While most teens were recovering from a turkey coma and spending time with loved ones, a 14-year-old and a 15-year-old in northeast Utah stole a small plane on Thursday and took it for a short flight before safely landing it and being arrested.
The single-engine propeller airplane was stolen from a private airstrip in Jensen, the Uintah County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement on Facebook.
“This morning the teens gained access to a tractor and drove it to the air strip in Jensen, where they stole a fixed-wing, single engine light sport aircraft,” the statement read. “The plane was witnessed flying very low along US-40 near Gusher, Uintah County, about 32 miles west of Jensen.”
The statement added that the boys were planning on flying more west to Wasatch Front, but instead turned around and landed at the Vernal Regional Airport, about 15 miles from where they went airborne.
According to Reuters, the teens live in a group home in the Wasatch Front — a metropolitan region including the state capital, Salt Lake City. The sheriff’s office says they were visiting friends in Jensen.
Both teens are reportedly being held at the Split Mountain Youth Detention Center in Vernal on multiple charges.
The names of the teens have not been released due to them both being minors.
There is no word on where the boys learned to fly a plane.
Full Uintah County Sheriff’s Office statement:
On Nov. 22, 2018, two teenage boys were arrested near the Vernal Regional Airport after landing a small plane they had stolen from a private airstrip in Jensen, Uintah County.
At this time, investigators believe the boys, ages 14 and 15, left a group home on the Wasatch Front earlier this week and made their way to eastern Utah, where they have been staying with friends in the Jensen area.
This morning the teens gained access to a tractor and drove it to the air strip in Jensen, where they stole a fixed-wing, single engine light sport aircraft. The plane was witnessed flying very low along US-40 near Gusher, Uintah County, about 32 miles west of Jensen.
Based on information obtained by investigators, the teens mentioned flying back towards the Wasatch Front, but decided not to and returned to Vernal where they landed at the airport.
Both teens are being held in the Split Mountain Youth Detention Center in Vernal on multiple charges. The investigation into this incident is ongoing.
In August, The Daily Wire’s Ryan Saavedra reported that a suicidal male airline employee also stole a plane. The 29-year-old man named Richard Russell performed several risky maneuvers before being chased by F-15s and crashing in Seattle. He did not survive the crash.
According to CNN, officials didn’t believe he had a pilot’s license and did not know where he learned how to fly.