A plane which took off from Steamboat Springs bound for Boulder has apparently crashed.
Search teams Saturday night were making their way toward the crash located east of Steamboat Springs in the Harrison drainage southwest of Walton Peak, a 10,544-foot mountain.
Allen Kenitzer, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said the plane was a Piper PA-28 with two people on board.
The Harrison drainage is in the Rabbit Ears Pass area, according to Jim Linville, incident commander for Routt County Search and Rescue.
“A Civil Air Patrol plane has spotted the aircraft,” said Linville. “We cannot confirm which aircraft it is because we haven’t been to it on the ground.
“But in all probability the plane that is missing and the plane they have seen is the same plane,” Linville added. “It is on Rabbit Ears Pass and we are sending three teams into the field right now. It is a very difficult area to get to.”
Linville said it is an area where there have been three previous plane crashes over the years.
“Planes leaving Steamboat don’t realize they have to gain more altitude before they go up that drainage and that’s where they end up. That has happened several times,” said Linville.
He said the CAP plane had picked up a signal from the downed aircraft.
“The Civil Air Patrol plane did that. They got the signal from the plane and then they were able to spot the fuselage,” said Linville.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939, hpankratz@denverpost.com or twitter.com/howardpankratz
