Evan Backer and Collin Niemala Death; Identified As Victims Of Fatal Plane Crash

Evan Backers, 26, of South Jordan and 23-year-old Collin Niemala of Santaquin has been identified as the two victims killed in the fatal plane crash on Tuesday morning in Isolated state Canyon Utah County

A 22-year-old plane passenger, who hasn’t been recognized, survived and was transferred to Utah Valley Hospital in Provo. FOX 13 News reported Thursday that Utah County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Spencer Cannon expects the man to recover.

Evan’s older brother Kyle Backers. “He was just amazing when he was the, the most selfless person I know,” said Kyle.

Kyle smiled and cried while discussing Evan.

“You couldn’t beat his sense of humor and his patience and his just dedication to his family, his house is basically, sorry, it’s basically a monument to what a good dad he was going to be,” said Kyle.

Kyle describes him as a family man who loved flying.

“He ended up getting this private, then we both ended up moving to Utah, 2-3 years later and he finished up with some other instructors out here, an instrument commercial,” said Kyle.

Kyle claimed Evan had flown intermittently for eight years.

He last spoke to Evan Monday night. “The fifteenth, we were going fly out to Oklahoma and so, he called me and I told him I would just tell him I had a funny story to tell him, and I was just going tell him when we got on the plane,” said Kyle.

A tale Kyle could not share with his younger brother. A Cessna 172G carrying three men crashed Tuesday morning.

Sgt. Cannon said Thursday night he doesn’t know who piloted the plane that crashed. The NTSB is leading the crash investigation, he said.

“It just still seems impossible that somebody could, could be right where he was in his life just getting started, just getting enough hours to make it to where he needed to be, and just as a family, a year and a half old son and another baby on the way,” he said.

Kyle says Evan made the most of his 26 years and was always reliable.

He had one of his last discussions with his brother, who would stay with him.