Source

"GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colo. — A Colorado family of four has been identified as the victims of a fatal small airplane crash.

Relatives on Sunday said in a statement that 47-year-old Jeff Makepeace, his 45-year-old wife, Jennifer, and their twin 10-year-old children, Addison and Benjamin, died in the crash late Friday.

The family from the city of Fort Collins was flying from a Fort Collins-area airport to Moab, Utah, when their single-engine plane crashed about in mountainous terrain near Glenwood Springs, Colorado about 170 miles (275 kilometers) west of Denver.

Federal authorities are investigating the cause of the crash of the Cirrus SR22. It's a single-engine plane that can seat up to five passengers."

Update 1:  One source has the crash happening around 1000 PM (may have been around 800 PM MDT).  Actually they lost radar contact which can be normal in the west.  If that point is near the crash site it still shows that they were flying in the mountains at night.  Source

Update 2:  The pilot reportedly got his license this year.  Source

Update 3:  Preliminary NTSB report

"According to preliminary air traffic control information, the airplane departed FNL and the
pilot was receiving VFR flight following. Radar track data indicated the airplane traveled on a
westerly heading after departure, and then turned to a southwesterly heading at an indicated
altitude of about 11,000 ft mean sea level (msl). About 10 miles northeast of Glenwood Springs,
the airplane turned to the northwest, climbed to about 12,000 ft msl, and continued northwest
for about 12 miles. The airplane then turned back to the southwest and gradually descended.
The last recorded radar data was at 2009:32, at altitude 11,400 ft msl, and about 1/4 mile south
of the accident site location.

Later than evening, family members reported the airplane overdue at CNY and a search was
initiated. The accident site was visually located by search and rescue personnel at 1137 on
September 16, 2017.

The accident site was located on rocky and tree covered mountainous terrain about 11,200 ft
msl. The airplane impacted trees and terrain on a measured magnetic heading of about 075
degrees. A post-impact fire consumed a portion of the airplane wreckage. The initial impact
point on the terrain contained a portion of a propeller blade, fragments of the engine and
engine mount, and forward fuselage structure. Several trees were severed at different heights,
just prior to the initial impact with terrain. The airframe and engine were fragmented and
distributed in the debris field. The Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS) components were
separated from the airframe and distributed in the debris field. The parachute was fully extended in a folded state with the slider at the base and entangled in tree branches. The CAPS
rocket was located about 200 feet from the initial impact and was not expended.

At 2008, weather station 5 SM, located at 10,600 feet msl about 16 miles south-southwest of
the accident site, reported the wind from 240 degrees at 11 knots, gusting to 23 knots, wind
direction varying between 210 and 280 degrees, 1/2-mile visibility, fog, overcast ceiling at 200
feet, temperature 2 degrees C, dew point 1 degree C, and altimeter setting of 30.24 inches of
Mercury.

According to the U.S. Naval Observatory, at Glenwood Springs the sunset was at 1917, and the
end of civil twilight was at 1944."

Interesting

Poor children.  RIP.  

Damn.  Poor kids.   Hope it wasn't pilot error that brought them their end, but statistics don't give me optimism. 

The sr22 is the new Bonanza.


Damn.

This seems to be the case.

Is that the plane with the fucking parachute?

I'll eat my words when I'm proven wrong, but my money is on a doctor with more money than sense, and his lack of aviation acumen killed himself and his family.

the chute is an option on them, but not all of them have them i think.

At least he was actually flying it.




Too soon?

Mountain wave happened

Local family flying into Hobby crashed their Cirrus into a parking lot a few years back...

Hey! I'm a real pilot too!

In all seriousness, I've done some VFR low level flying over the Colorado Rockies. It can be sporty with the wind shear and downdrafts. What is the service ceiling on a single engine cirrus anyway? They are unpressurized I assume.

I'm gonna assume this as well.

She was flying into an airport and in an airplane way above her skill level, which wasn't very much.

She was lined up on approach with 4 sandwiched between commercial jet traffic then directed to go around to 35. She finally gets lined up with 35, but was too high, and goes around where again she overflies the runway.

I remember that crash, didn't know it was a lady pilot.

That's a very busy airport, the ATC seemed quite patient but damn that's just not a place I'd like to be as a low hour pilot.  RIP

There is a YouTube video out there that is a mashup of ATC/cockpit comm and a 3D flight path reconstruction.

Anywhere in Houston is busy, and she was in over her head. Was she not some sort of instructor as well?

What a cluster fuck she was set to land ATC should have just let her continue.

First there was the doctor killer.  Then came the geek killer.

Seems almost daily/weekly that these "hobbysts" crash themselves and kill themselves and their passaengers

My younger sis is a DDS-type, and one of her dental assistant's husband was killed in a private plane crash, the cause? Overloaded plane, the planed encountered some mountains, but the FAA determined it was overweight and could fly over the mountain.

If they crashed around 1000 PM that is a time I would not be flying in the mountains.  I flew over the Rockies many times but on longer trips I would be around 16,500 feet and on supplemental oxygen.

I need to find the plane N number and  see if it shows up on FlightAware.

Flight time from KFNL (Ft Collins) to KCNY (Moab) would have been around 105 minutes assuming a 170 knot ground speed.

RIP Family....amazing how many pilots we have in GD...

High altitude mountain flying at night in a single engine recip! What could wrong?

While the PIC is ultimately responsible. ATC needs to hang for this one!

Seriously every week there is another small plane crash if not multiple.  

What is the deal with these?  Hard to fly?  license requirements not stringent enough?

No shit.  I'm a pretty experienced pilot and Mountain flyer.  I have very little night flying time because I won't fly a single in/over the mountains at night. And since I've always lived in either eastern or western Mtns.......

Tail number was 462SR

RIP.

The meatsack on the stick makes real, REALLY stupid decisions.

In the sense that its putting a lot of people in the pilot's seat with very little experience, you're right.

Per Cirrus' home page, the chute is standard. Its possible it used to be an option, and this a/c didn't have it.

The only way to gain hours is to fly. It's a shame flying is restricted to "professionals".

If you want to glance at all the aviation accidents....Look here

I do not see any flights in the last fourteen days on FlightAware for that tail number.

Were they flying VFR?

No such thing as VFR at night in my mind. Trying to fly VFR at night surrounded by mountains is a death wish.

I was flying my uncle's plane from Las Vegas to Colorado Springs and it was quite the feeling when we got through the pass near Pueblo and dropped about 200 feet in a few seconds from the winds on the mountains.  And that was daytime.

Mountain flying in a single piston engine airplane? At night... What could possibly fucking go wrong.



Stupid ass people. There's no way in fuck I'd fly a plane like that around at night in the mountains.

Go fly a little playing around at night, extra points for a night with no moon and low population area for even more reduced ground awareness and report back the findings. Yeah, fuck that shit.

Chute is not an option. It's suspension straps are literally under the skin and rip out during the deployment. They make it standard, and it is a FAA required item for the aircraft.

Did she stall, or what? Looks like she dropped like a rock onto that car.

For some reason I cannot get the METARS in that area for the possible crash time.  Can someone get the METAR for KGWS and KASE for 16 September 2017 at 0400 Z here

Is there a source for historical winds aloft?

'cause a doctor could never be smart enough to fly a plane safely?

here you go:

VFR night flying with at least minimal ambient light isn't that bad- in fact, it makes it really easy to spot other aircraft.  The mountains in this case are the concern for sure.

N462SR is registered to Lind's plumbing.   I wonder why no flight shows up on Flight Aware.  I am "assuming" that the pilot was on a instrument plan or used VFR flight following.  If neither then that could explain no flight information.

Flying at night over the mountains is easy.  If something goes wrong just turn your lights on.  If you don't like what you see then turn them off.

Wow

The whole family

Sad

I don't think I'm playing The Amazing Kreskin when I say it will eventually be ruled CFIT.


Edit: not a Doctor.  AC owned by a mechanical company.  Doesn't look like it was a turbo so no oxygen on board.