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Two teens arrested in eastern Utah after swiping and flying off in a plane

(Courtesy photo | Uintah County Sheriff's Office) A fixed-wing, single-engine light sport plane that investigators say was stolen by two teens.

A single-engine airplane is hardly your typical getaway vehicle — especially for a pair of teenagers.

But two boys, ages 14 and 15, did just that in eastern Utah on Thanksgiving, according to the Uintah County Sheriff’s Office, after reportedly making their way from a Wasatch Front group home earlier this week.

The boys were staying with friends in Uintah County, authorities say, where they obtained a tractor Thursday and drove it to a private airstrip in Jensen, about 12 miles from Vernal. There, they swiped the small plane, states a news release posted on Facebook by the sheriff’s office.

Witnesses spotted the low-flying aircraft about 32 miles west of Jensen, the sheriff’s office reports, in an apparent effort to return to the Wasatch Front. But the two opted to go back to Vernal, where they landed at the regional airport.

The release did not say whether the boys had any flight training or piloting experience.

The teens were arrested on multiple charges and sent to the Split Mountain Youth Detention Center in Vernal.

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