UPDATED: Small plane crashes into Utah Lake on approach to Provo airport | News, sports, jobs

At least two men were in a small plane that crashed into Utah Lake Friday morning, the Utah County Sheriff's Office said, but their fate has not yet been determined.

Spokesman Sgt. Spencer Cannon told the Daily Herald that the plane was cleared to land at the Provo airport when it went into the water shortly after 10 a.m

The National Transportation Safety Board said in an X-Post Friday afternoon that the plane was a Cirrus SR-22.

“We know that when the plane crashed, we had some witnesses who were in boats nearby and saw the plane hit the water pretty hard,” said Sgt. Garett Dutson in a briefing Friday afternoon.

These witnesses called authorities to alert them to the incident.

Dutson said crews had located the wreckage near the boat harbor but had not recovered the bodies of the two men as of 3 p.m. Friday.

A private company with a barge tried to pull the plane out of the lake, but it was submerged in 8.5 feet of water and mud, complicating the effort, Dutson explained.

The survival rate of the two men was unknown early Friday afternoon, but the likelihood was slim, officials said. “As far as we know, no matter how hard the plane hits the water, it's not looking very good in terms of survival rates,” Dutson told reporters.

Authorities did not confirm how far the small plane flew, but KUTV reported that the flight took off from St. George Regional Airport.

Officials did not reveal the identities of the two men or their origins.

It is also unknown whether there were anyone else on the plane at the time of the crash.

Utah Lake State Park was closed to visitors for most of Friday during the recovery effort.

Multiple crews from the sheriff's office and its search and rescue team, Utah State Parks, the Provo and Saratoga Springs fire departments and the Utah Highway Patrol dive team assisted on the lake.

The NTSB will conduct an investigation into what caused the plane to crash into the lake.