Telluride Plane Crash: Three Pilots Killed, Cause Of Crash Unknown

In a Telluride plane crash on Sunday, three people were killed when the single-engine aircraft they were in went down in Colorado.

According to a statement released on Monday by the San Miguel County sheriff’s office, all three victims of the crash were pilots: Sherry Anderson, 57, and Sherman Anderson, 64, of Phoenix, and Eric Durban, 48, of Mesa, Ariz.

While Durban was a well known former military pilot, the Andersons were commercial pilots with many years of flying experience. Sadly, the Andersons are survived by a daughter, and Durban by his wife and two children.

The private aircraft took off from Telluride Regional Airport at 11:20 a.m on Sunday on its way to Cortez in southwest Colorado, just 75 miles away. The Telluride plane crash occurred about a mile west of the airport and was found six hours later after a furious search by authorities.

While police deputies had already confirmed that there were no survivors in the plane crash, a photograph of the wrecked plane circulated on Twitter showing a burnt fuselage.

A deputy told reporters: “This is certainly not the outcome we were hoping for. It’s just a terrible, terrible tragedy.”

The weather conditions weren’t thought to be extreme in the region. Light snow with visibility of around one mile was reported along with some light winds.

The Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said the cause of the Telluride plane crash is unknown at this time. The last communication from the pilot of the plane was from the Telluride runway just before takeoff.

It remains to be seen what led to the tragic Telluride plane crash as the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board carry out a full investigation into the crash.