Two people died Wednesday in a plane crash in southwestern Colorado.
The crash happened near Telluride, according to the San Miguel County Sheriff’s Office.
The sheriff’s office identified the pilot as a well-known local, Robert “Glider Bob” Saunders.
Saunders, 64, was piloting the fixed-wing, motorized-glider aircraft when it went down, for an unknown reason, in Prospect Basin in the Telluride Ski area around 2 p.m., the sheriff’s office said in a news release.
The other victim, a Colorado man, was the only passenger.
“Telluride Ski and Golf employees, who were working in the area and had seen the aircraft earlier, responded when they heard what they thought sounded like crash,” the sheriff’s office said.
Both victims died at the scene.
“This is a terrible tragedy and an enormous loss for the families as well as the entire Telluride community,” Sheriff Bill Masters said.
The plane, a Stemme S10-VT Glider, crashed under unknown circumstances 5 miles southeast of Telluride, said Allen Kenitzer, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman.
The glider, manufactured in Germany, features side-by-side cockpit seats and has cruising speed of 161 mph.
Sheriff’s deputies, the San Miguel County coroner, the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.
The crash happened on U.S. Forest Service land.
Saunders owned and operated “Glide Telluride” out of the Telluride Regional Airport, the sheriff’s office said. His flight business offered year-round glider rides soaring above the picturesque area.
A pilot for more than 37 years, Saunders, in 2007, took the late Neil Armstrong, American astronaut and the first person to walk on the moon, gliding, according to Saunders’ website.
“His gentle nature and love of flying ends up making everyone smile,” the webpage said.
Saunders has been flying Stemme Motorgliders since 1997, according to his website.
