NTSB: No Contact With Pilot Before Crash That Killed Colorado Men
ROCK SPRINGS, Wyo. (AP) - The pilot of a small plane had no contact with air traffic controllers before it crashed in Wyoming, killing both people aboard, according to federal investigators.
Radar tracking showed that the single-engine Bellanca 17-30A Viking descended at high speed before the crash, said the National Transportation Safety Board preliminary report released last week. The plane went down about 30 minutes after taking off from Pinedale en route to Fort Collins on May 18.
The plane, which crashed about 45 miles north of Rock Springs, was in an area of layered overcast, broken cloud formations and light rain, the report said. The wreckage was found May 19.
Pilot Gilmer Mickey of Englewood, Colo., and passenger Bob Albert of Fort Collins, Colo., both 55, were killed. The NTSB said Mickey's family alerted officials when the plane failed to arrive.
Mickey was co-founder and co-owner of Pinedale Natural Gas in Pinedale. Albert owned Alberts Water & Wastewater Services in Fort Collins.
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