Small plane crash in Colorado kills 3 pilots from Arizona

USPA News - Three experienced pilots from Arizona were killed Sunday when a small private aircraft crashed into a cliff in Colorado, local and federal officials said on Monday. There were no survivors.

The single-engine Beechcraft BE33 aircraft had departed Telluride Regional Airport, located some 195 miles (313 kilometers) southwest of Denver, at approximately 11:20 a.m. local time on Sunday. It took off amidst light snow, visibility of up to 1 mile (1.6 kilometer) and calm winds, the San Miguel County Sheriff`s Office said. A search-and-rescue operation was launched more than an hour later after air traffic control in both Telluride and Denver had lost contact with the aircraft, which last contacted an air traffic controller at Telluride while taking off. The aircraft was spotted by a helicopter at 5:17 p.m. in a cliff band about 1 mile (1.6 kilometer) from runway 27, where it had taken off. Sheriff`s deputies soon arrived at the scene and found no survivors, said San Miguel County Sheriff Bill Masters, who said all three victims were identified as experienced pilots from Arizona. "This is certainly not the outcome we were hoping for, it`s just a terrible, terrible tragedy," he said. A recovery operation involving nearly a dozen personnel began on early Monday morning with the assistance of a helicopter, Masters said. It was not immediately known what caused Sunday`s accident, but both the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will investigate the crash.