Practice News Story: #11 Accident

USU Field Trip Turns Fatal
Posted: 6:05 p.m. MST, April 19, 2007

Logan, Utah -A fatal rollover accident occurred on Interstate 84 west of Tremonton, leaving six students and one professor from Utah State University dead on the scene around 4 p.m. on April 19. All of the students were in the College of Agriculture.

The Eleven members of the school were heading back to Tremonton after they had spent the day at Greenline Implements on a field trip for Ag week at USU. Kyle Holden, who is a manager at Greenline Implements was traveling with the group in a separate vehicle when the accident occurred. He said Evan Parker the instructor was driving the 15-passenger van when the driver’s side rear tire blew which caused the vehicle to veer off the side of the road and roll. It rolled four or five times, approximately 100 feet from the road before coming to rest on a rocky outcropping near the edge of a ravine. The occupants were thrown from the vehicle as it rolled. Holden said “I saw the bodies flying above the dust and I knew then that it was a serious situation.”

Lt. Ed Michaud, the first highway patrol to arrive at the scene new it was big when he saw that there were bodies all over the ground. He said, “In my 15 years in the force this is by far the worst accident I’ve ever seen and probably will be the worst in my career.” He also said that the initial investigation indicates that none of the passengers were wearing seat belts; “In my experience I’ve never seen people thrown out the way they were thrown out without wearing seatbelts.” This accident is said to have occurred because of a mechanical malfunction and high velocity. Michaud said, “To do this kind of damage I’d estimate the van was traveling at 95 mph.” However after speaking with Kyle Holden, who was the only witness to the accident, he said that his cruise control was set at 80 mph and he was passing them when their tire blew.

Lt. Ed Michaud confirmed that at least seven were dead at the scene and four others were taken to neighboring hospitals. The names of the men that have been confirmed dead are Evan Parker, Ryan McEntire, Bradley Wilcox, and Justin Gunnel. Stan Albrecht, president of Utah State University, said that Jared Nelson and Robert Peterson are at Ogden Regional Medical Center and McKay Dee Hospital. Nelson and Peterson are most likely expected to survive. Some names have not yet been released because the families haven’t been contacted.

Noel Cockett, Dean of College of Agriculture at USU said that most of the students in the accident were sophomores. She said that this was one of the best group of students that they have had in years. She spoke very highly of them when she said, “They were the best in what they do, and all around … it’s a great loss.” She also spoke of the driver, Evan Parker. She said, “He’s a great loss to the department, college, and university.” He was an established instructor who had been with USU for 15 years. Cockett said, “This is a horrible tragedy for our university, it hurts on a personal level as well as a professional level.”

Albrecht said, “This is a great loss for our university, we are going to be hurting for a long time ... we’ve got along road ahead of us but we’re equipped and we can work through this.”