A man who died after he intentionally crashed a plane into his own home is believed to have done it in a deranged bid to kill his wife, police said.

Duane Youd, from Payson in the US state of Utah, carried out the astonishing attack just hours after he had been arrested for assaulting his wife,The Sun reports.

His partner and a child, who were in the home at the time of the attack, managed to escape despite the front part the two-storey house being engulfed in flames, Police Sergeant Noemi Sandoval said.

The wife of a Utah man who flew a small plane into their home has said she will ‘never understand’ what was going through her husband’s head at the time of the deadly crash.

Sandy Youd and her adult son managed to escape the flames that engulfed their family home in Payson, Utah, killing her husband Duane ‘Rhedd’ Youd, 47, on Monday.

Sandy spoke out about the shocking crash on Thursday, revealing that she is still searching for answers as to why the ‘fantastic’ father would intentionally crash into the home, knowing that his wife and child were inside.’I don’t know what was in his head,’ she told the Deseret News.

‘I don’t understand why and I never will.’Sandy described her husband’s actions as ‘completely unexpected’, telling local media: ‘I just want people to know what a fantastic guy that Rhedd was.’

Emergency personnel work at the scene on the morning after the crash in Payson.

The couple’s children have said that their parents had been going through a rough patch in their marriage, which escalated dramatically the day before the plane crash.

Police say the couple, who had been drinking, went for a drive in American Fork Canyon on Sunday morning to talk.

Rhedd reportedly became increasingly agitated and started screaming and yelling at Sandy before pulling her out of the cab and attempting to leave her onthe side of the road.

Sandy then jumped into the truck bed because she ‘just wanted to go home’, and Rhedd proceeded to drive down the canyon repeatedly slamming on the breaks, knocking his wife around in the back, according to an official report.

Rhedd tried to throw her out a second time, and as Sandy reached into the cab to grab her purse, he allegedly punched her from behind.

When she turned around Rhedd reportedly began slamming his forehead into Sandy’s face as she scratched and clawed his face.

Several passers-by soon noticed the fight and came to Sandy’s aid before calling police around 7.30pm.

Rhedd bailed out of jail hours later and requested an officer escort to go to his home so he could get his truck and some belongings around midnight.

That occurred without incident, Payson police Sgt Noemi Sandoval said.Soon after, Rhedd reportedly drove to Spanish Fork Airport and took a Cessna Citation 525 plane that belonged to the company he worked for as a pilot.Just before 3am Monday, he crashed the plane into the front of the two-story home 15 miles from the airport, knowing his wife and adult son were sleeping inside.

Photos of the wreckage showed the white plane charred and in pieces in the front yard nearby an overturned and crushed car.

Most of the upscale house was still intact, but heavily burned in the front.

Police had responded one previous time to the house on a domestic violence incident.

The aviation community in the small town 65 miles south of Salt Lake City has also expressed shock over the father’s actions.

Rhedd’s manager at Spanish Fork Airport, Cris Child, said his conduct was always ‘above exemplary.”

He was an extremely talented pilot and did his job well,’ he said.

‘He was a trusted member of the airport community.

‘As a corporate pilot for VanCon, Rhedd had 24/7 access to the airplane involved in the crash, which was housed in a locked hangar with a digital access code.

Rhedd, 47, has been arrested on suspicion of domestic violence hours before the crash after an altercation with Sandy on Sunday evening.

His mugshot is pictured below.