UPDATE: Relatives identify two killed in small plane crash near Colorado Springs Airport
The relatives of a Texas couple posted on social media Monday night that the two were killed in a small airplane crashed near the intersection of Powers Boulevard. and Airport Road in southeast Colorado Springs Monday morning.
Relatives ofMichael Fritzel and Paula Fritzel said the two were the ones killed in the crash. The couple was from Roanoke, Texas.
The National Transportation Safety Board confirms two people were on the Cirrus SR22 when it went down upon takeoff. There were no survivors.
The plane went down east of Powers between Platte and Airport.
Witnesses told the NTSB that the plane appeared to spiral into the ground.
“I noticed it was kind of upside down and I was wondering what kind of trick it was going to do, it looked a little low to be doing a trick,” said Rob De Vito.
“Spinning and spinning and spinning then went nose first into the ground. Then all you saw was debris flying everywhere then it caught on fire,” said Sherri Lagasse.
The crash happened around 11 a.m. and sent thick plumes of black and gray smoke into the air. It also sparked a grass fire that was eventually put out by firefighters.
Witnesses said they ran toward the plane to try and save the pilot and passenger, but couldn’t get close because of the flames.
“Just saw a bunch of cars and Air Force guys running toward the flames and toward the black smoke,” said Taija Moseley. “I got out of the car, hugged the girl and she just completely lost it. I told her it’s OK. She was just an emotional wreck after seeing everything she saw.”
“People got close to it, closer than I did but there was no getting into that thing. It was a ball of fire,” said Rob De Vito.
The west gate of Peterson Air Force Base was closed because of the crash. It has reopened.
NTSB investigators say it will take 10 months to a year to determine why the crash happened. They will be looking into whether human error, mechanical failure or weather conditions played a role.
The victims will be formally identified when autopsies are completed and family members are notified.
Investigators said the plane had a parachute. Last week, a pilot survived a crash in the same type of plane by deploying the parachute. Investigators said the plane was not high enough to deploy the parachute in Monday’s crash.
