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Show Nevada family of four killed when light airplane hits hills CEDAR CITY Four people were killed Saturday night when the light plane they were flying in crashed into a hillside north of here. The victims, all members of the same Las Vegas, Nev., family, were identified Tuesday morning by Iron County Sheriff Ira Schoppmann after other family members had been notified of the accident. They were identified as Gregory William Rudolph, 34; his wife, Kristin E., 33; a daughter, Lisa, 11; and a son, Scott, 9. The twin-engine Beechcraft, missing since its attempted approach to the Cedar City Airport at 6:40 p.m. Saturday, was located at 10 a.m. Sunday at about the 6,000-foot level of the foothills of the Summit Mountains, just northwest of Enoch and about a mile from Interstate 15. According to Schoppmann, the pilot apparently misjudged his first run and was circling for a second pass; however, he circled wide in the bad weather and the plane struck the Cedar tree-covered hillside. The plane was destroyed, but did not burn. Debris was strewn an estimated 1,000 feet. Much of the damage was caused, said Schoppmann, because the plane first struck a 12-inch diameter tree. The plane then flipped over, landing upside-down and probably killing the occupants instantly. The plane was spotted by members of the Cedar City Search and Rescue Squad which had participated extensively in the search both Saturday night and Sunday morning. The search Saturday was mainly centered in the fields of Enoch because of a a report by Don Smith of Dancing Breeze Ranch northwest of the town that the plane had flown over at a very low altitude. However, a later report of a siting by Jeff Ashdown of the Homestead Subdivision moved the search Sunday morning to the foothills, said Schoppmann. A definite cause of the accident is pending an investigation by the Federation Aviation Administration, |