ST. George — A traffic stop on Interstate 15 in Washington over the weekend resulted in the arrest of a man charged with manslaughter in connection with a 2019 plane crash that killed one passenger.

Just after 2 p.m. Sunday, 47-year-old Christopher Adam Anderson was arrested by the Utah Highway Patrol during a traffic stop near Exit 10 on southbound Interstate 15 in Washington County. Washington City Police Department and Washington County Sheriff's Deputies assisted in the incident.

Prior to his arrest, Anderson was initially stopped near the Browse exit, but was released before a warrant was returned from the National Crime Database. At that time, officers called for assistance to stop Anderson, who was heading south toward Arizona.

Anderson was arrested on a federal warrant issued by the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona on one count of manslaughter within an aircraft jurisdiction and one count of aircraft-related registration violation, according to an arrest warrant released Monday. .

The lawsuit was filed in response to reports of a plane crash involving a Piper plane that crashed near Kingman, Arizona, on January 13, 2019.

There were two people on board the plane, the pilot, Anderson, who was seriously injured, and the plane's owner, a 38-year-old woman who died in the crash, both of Arizona's Prescott Valley area.

According to authorities, shortly after 10 a.m. on the day of the incident, the passenger sent a text message to his sister informing her that she was being airlifted.

The plane then landed at Kingman Airport for refueling and took off just before 11 a.m. for an airport in Glendale, Arizona. According to a statement released by the Mohave County Sheriff's Office at the time of the incident, the plane failed to land 30 minutes later, and at 12:15 p.m., the passenger's sister called the Mohave County Sheriff's Office and said the plane was scheduled to arrive. It was reported that it was past the time.

During this time, the plane crashed in an area within Hualapai Mountain Park near Kingman, Arizona, and the wrecked aircraft was found inverted at the bottom of a deep ravine.

Anderson reportedly crawled out of the wreckage and made his way to the road, where he alerted a passerby who called 911.

Authorities said Anderson told emergency personnel that the plane was experiencing an electrical failure and that he tried to turn around, but the engines lost power and he was unable to do so, causing the plane to crash. He said he had done so.

The Mohave County Sheriff's Office responded to the scene and was tasked with conducting an initial investigation, which was then turned over to the National Transportation Safety Board, which handles all investigations involving the aircraft.

Anderson was taken to Kingman Regional Medical Center in critical condition. He was then taken to a trauma center in Las Vegas, Nevada, in critical condition.

Despite repeated requests to do so, Anderson declined to provide further details, the report said, adding that he also did not provide investigators with any information about his training or flying experience.

Evidence has emerged that at the time of the crash Mr Anderson was flying with a student pilot certificate issued in January 2014, which prohibits him from carrying passengers.

Additionally, a review of Anderson's medical certificate application revealed that the pilot had no medical conditions or medications listed. Federal investigators found this contradicted information contained in medical records obtained from Anderson's doctor, which indicated that Anderson had diabetes and was using fast-acting insulin as well as an insulin pump. discovered. These findings were later corroborated by his family.

The report said such symptoms would require medication and could result in Mr. Anderson being intentionally disqualified from serving as an aircraft captain.

A blood test taken about three hours after the accident was negative for alcohol, but showed Anderson's blood sugar levels were more than twice the maximum, the report said. Analysis revealed that Anderson had been using an insulin pump shortly before the accident. However, there was insufficient evidence to determine whether the pilot was impaired by diabetic complications at the time of the crash.

Evidence provided in the final report suggests that a lack of fuel reduced the engine's power, which caused the plane to crash.

The aircraft's two fuel tanks (one on each wing) each had fuel caps, but neither was found during the crash investigation. Federal investigators therefore concluded that Anderson likely forgot to replace the tank cap when he stopped to refuel.

The investigation found that the missing cap likely caused fuel to be siphoned out of the plane during the flight, eventually causing the engine to fail.

As a result of the investigation, the case was filed in federal court in Arizona, and Anderson was transferred to the Washington County Jail. He is scheduled to make his first appearance Thursday in District Court in St. George before Judge Paul Kohler. Until then, he will remain in prison in federal custody.

This report is based on statements from court records, police, or other responding parties and may not include the full scope of the findings. A person arrested or charged is presumed innocent until convicted in a court of law or until determined otherwise by a trier of fact.

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