Peter and Mona Branagh Killed In Small Plane Crash

Local developer and California Bank of Commerce Director Peter Branagh was killed with his wife Mona in a small plane crash over the weekend, bank officials confirmed Monday.

A spokesman at California Bank of Commerce offices said details were not being released as family members were still getting word of and processing the news. The couple was believed to have been flying from Utah to Colorado, where they maintained a home, when their plane went down.

"We've lost a great director, a great man, a great friend," a company official said Monday. "We are withholding further statement out of respect for the family."

Branagh was also President of Branagh Development, Inc., based in Lafayette.

Initial reports indicate that a debris field found in Sevier County, central Utah, was wreckage from a small airplane that went missing on a flight from California to Colorado Saturday night.

Officials in Utah said a privately hired helicopter spotted debris in the Sevier County's Saleratus Canyon, about 30 miles southeast of Salina. Investigators are attempting to confirm if the wreckage is that of a Cirrus SR22 registered to Springhill Aviation LLC in Danville.

Two people were aboard the downed aircraft, the Sevier County Sheriff’s Office confirmed in a press release, but their names were not given.

The plane was traveling from northern California to Aspen, Colo. when it was reported overdue and family members started calling for assistance. Radar tracking last placed the plane in Sevier County.

Civil Air Patrol search aircraft as well as a plane from the Emery County Sheriff’s Office and private helicopters contracted by the family joined in the search.

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