A Broomfield flight instructor and his student died Saturday when the small plane they were flying crashed near Steamboat Springs.
Routt County Coroner Rob Ryg identified the two as William Earl Allen, 62, and a flying student, Terry Lynn Stewart, 60, of Houston.
Rescue workers found the wreckage at about 2:30 a.m. Sunday, according to a Routt County Sheriff’s Office release.
“It was in a very remote place by Rabbit Ears (Pass), and it was a very difficult removal,” Ryg said Sunday afternoon.
“They flew up here to Steamboat (Saturday) for lunch, and they were on their way back to Boulder when it happened.”
According to Allen’s Facebook page, he was a certified flight instructor at Journeys Aviation in Boulder. A company profile of Allen said he was a competitive aerobatics pilot.
A person who answered the company’s phone Sunday declined to comment.
A search for the aircraft began when it was reported overdue.
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer said the plane was a Piper PA-28.
Jim Linville, Routt County Search and Rescue incident commander, says at least two other planes have crashed in the same area in the past 10 years.
The plane is registered to VSP Aviators LLC in Broomfield, according to an FAA database of tail numbers. The aircraft is advertised on a website for Journeys Aviation, which says it offers flight training and aircraft rentals.
The Harrison drainage is in the Rabbit Ears Pass area, according to Linville.
“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,” Linville said.
Linville said a Civil Air Patrol plane had picked up a signal from the downed aircraft.
Staff writer Jesse Paul contributed to this story.
