Remembering Flight 608: Sculpture of Plane to be Dedicated at Bryce Canyon Airport
On Oct. 24, 2010, family and friends of the 53 people who died in the worst air disaster in Utah history will gather to dedicate a sculpture on the 63rd anniversary of the crash of Flight 608.
On Oct. 24, 1947, a DC-6 carrying 48 passengers and 5 crew members attempted to make an emergency landing at Bryce Canyon Airport when a fire was discovered in the plane's heating system. Tragically, the plane crashed in Bryce Canyon National Park only 1½ miles short of the runway. There were no survivors.
Nancy Boonstra was only 5 years old at the time, and lost her mother and younger brother in the crash. She recently commissioned an artist to carve a slab of solid white marble into an exact scale replica of the ill-fated plane. The sculpture will be on permanent exhibit at Bryce Canyon Airport, and will bear the inscription, "Flight 608 has arrived at Bryce Canyon Airport. It will never land, but will fly forever - carrying its 53 angels."
In addition to the sculpture, a new interpretive exhibit panel telling the story of Flight 608 will be unveiled at the ceremony. The Scenic Byway 12 Committee designed and fabricated this panel, and plans to install it along Utah-12 not far from the site of the plane crash.
The sculpture dedication ceremony will take place on Sunday, Oct. 24, 2010 at 4:00 p.m. at Bryce Canyon Airport. The public is invited to attend this historic event.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
