‘He died doing what he loved,’ family remembers pilot killed in plane crash near Falcon

FALCON, Colo. (KRDO) -- The El Paso County Coroner's Office just identified 56-year-old Carl Benda as the pilot killed in a plane crash near Falcon Saturday.

The El Paso County Sheriff's Office (EPSO) responded to the crash near the Meadowlake Airport Saturday, after receiving multiple reports at around noon that a plane had gone down.

When deputies arrived at the scene, they found a small, single-engine aircraft destroyed and Benda dead.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is now investigating the crash. They say the aircraft Benda was flying was a Nanchang CJ-6A airplane.

Benda's brother Patrick said he finds solace in the fact that he died doing what he loved, but the pain of loss still weighs heavy.

Johnny Fryman, Benda's brother-in-law and the best man in his wedding, is struggling to process the loss too.

"It was shocking at first," said Fryman. "It's one of those things you're not sure you believe until you get confirmation. There's a shock factor initially and unbelief because it wasn't that long ago we were talking."

Fryman and his wife Kimberly describe Benda as a man of faith and incredible integrity.

They want people to know the world is less adventurous and caring without Benda in it.

"There is a lot of sadness and loss and just all of us trying to wrap our heads around how dramatically our family has changed in such a short period of time," said Kimberly.