Three small, single-engine planes crashed in Colorado over the weekend, killing at least one person, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
A pilot, the only person onboard a Saturday morning flight in eastern Colorado, died when the two-seat Van’s RV-7 plane crashed in a field southeast of Matheson in Elbert County, according to the FAA.
Federal officials said the crash happened just before 9 a.m. Saturday. Matheson is about 18 miles west of Limon.
The cause of the crash remains unknown, but the National Transportation Safety Board said Sunday evening an investigator was headed to the crash site from Texas to evaluate the wreckage.
According to the FAA, the plane is registered to a man in Castle Pines, but it has not been confirmed if that man was piloting the plane when it crashed.
Two other planes crashed in Denver, one on Friday and one on Sunday, but no one was injured, according to FAA records. In both crashes, the pilots were the only people onboard.
A Cessna 172 Skyhawk, a four-seat plane, crashed at about 1:15 p.m. Friday while landing at an unidentified airport, according to the FAA.
Federal officials said the pilot was practicing “touch and go” maneuvers where the plane lands on a runway but, instead of coming to a complete stop, immediately takes back off into the air. During those maneuvers, the plane “encountered a gust of wind” and veered off the runway, striking lights and signs.
Another single-engine plane, a North American SNJ-4, that took off Sunday morning from an unnamed airport experienced engine issues and had to force an emergency landing, according to the FAA. The pilot tried to return to the airport but ended up landing in a Denver field.
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