The pilot of a small propeller plane that crashed last month near Meeker radioed to air traffic controllers that he was trying to avoid clouds just before disappearing from radar.
A National Transportation Safety Board report released last week says 62-year-old William Ray Hiler, of Tabernash, requested permission to fly at a higher altitude to avoid the billows.
A controller then realized Hiler’s Beechcraft C-35 had descended out of radar and radio contact, according to the report.
Hiler was heading from Provo, Utah, to the Granby-Grand County Airport on Jan. 14 when his plane crashed about 15 miles west of Meeker. Witnesses reported a midair explosion after hearing an aircraft engine revving.
Fragments of the plane were found over a half-mile debris field.
Jesse Paul: 303-954-1733, jpaul@denverpost.com or @JesseAPaul
Updated Feb. 9, 2016 at 8:27 a.m. The following corrected information has been added to this article: Because of a reporting error, this story has been updated to reflect the model of the plane.
