A Utah man has flown a small plane into his own house just hours after he was arrested for assaulting his wife in a nearby canyon where the couple had been talking over their problems, authorities say.

Key points: Investigators believe the twin-engine Cessna 525 belonged to Duane Youd's employer

Investigators believe the twin-engine Cessna 525 belonged to Duane Youd's employer Payson police sergeant said he was an experienced pilot

Payson police sergeant said he was an experienced pilot Mr Youd was earlier booked on suspicion of domestic violence and posted bail

The pilot Duane Youd died after the incident, but his wife and a child — who were in the house at the time — survived, despite the front of the two-storey house being engulfed in flames, police sergeant Noemi Sandoval said.

The crash occurred at about 2:30am local time in Payson, a city of about 20,000 people that lies 95 kilometres south of Salt Lake City.

Investigators believe the twin-engine Cessna 525 belonged to Mr Youd's employer and that he intentionally flew into his own house.

Ms Sandoval said he was an experienced pilot.

It wasn't immediately clear who employed Mr Youd or whether he was authorised to take the plane.

It is also unknown if the child in the house is related to Mr Youd, Ms Sandoval said.

Daune Youd was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence and posted bail before the incident. ( AP: Utah County Sheriff's Office )

Mr Youd, 47, was arrested at about 7:30pm on Sunday after witnesses called police to report that he was assaulting his wife, Utah County Sheriff's sergeant Spencer Cannon said.

The couple had been drinking and went to American Fork Canyon to talk about problems they were having, authorities said.

Mr Youd was booked on suspicion of domestic violence and posted bail, Mr Cannon said.

Mr Youd requested an officer escort him to his home so he could get his truck and some belongings around midnight.

That occurred without incident, Ms Sandoval said.

Within hours, Mr Youd was taking off in the plane from the Spanish Fork-Springville Airport about 25 kilometres north of his house.

He flew directly to his neighbourhood and smashed into his house, Ms Sandoval said.

Most of the upscale house was still intact, but heavily burned in the front. ( AP: Leah Hogsten/The Salt Lake Tribune )

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

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

Mr Youd and his wife bought the 251-square-metre house valued at nearly $US400,000 ($550,065) in 2016 in a quiet subdivision of new homes near the foothills, county property records show.

The plane barely missed power lines and other homes, Ms Sandoval said.

The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the incident.

Online court records show Mr Youd agreed last month to attend marriage and family counselling sessions for six months as part of a plea agreement, following an domestic violence incident on April 8 in which he was charged with disorderly conduct.

It is the second bizarre plane incident in recent days.

On Friday an employee stole a turboprop plane from Sea-Tac International Airport in Seattle and flew it for more than an hour before dying in a crash on an island southwest of Tacoma.

AP