A preliminary report regarding the July 3 fatal plane crash 9 miles east of Aspen noted that before takeoff, the pilots abandoned a pre-approved flight path in favor of taking their own.
A change in departure plans was the precursor to the accident that claimed the lives of two residents of New York, according to a preliminary report of the incident issued Wednesday by the National Transportation Safety Board.
Ruben Cohen and David Zara, both pilots, had landed at Aspen-Pitkin County Airport at 1:53 p.m. that Saturday to put fuel in the Beechcraft Bonanza and have lunch. They had flown in from Napa, Calif., using Aspen as the go-between for their final destination of the day, Des Moines, Iowa, according to flightaware.com.
NTSB: Pilots have change of plans before fatal Aspen flight aspentimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from aspentimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
outside of Aspen that claimed the lives of two New York residents Saturday.
“The aircraft crashed in remote mountainous terrain. We are determining how best to access the crash site,” Jennifer Gabris, spokeswoman for the National Transportation Safety Board, said Monday in an email to The Aspen Times.
A ground team from Mountain Rescue Aspen, working with a helicopter from the Colorado Army National Guard in Gypsum, located the wreckage and victims Sunday in response to a call earlier in the morning from a person who reported the flight overdue.
The bodies of both victims presumably identified as Ruben Cohen and David Zara were recovered as well.
Two New York Pilots Killed in Aspen-Area Bonanza Crash
Image: FlightAware
An aviation entrepreneur and an oral surgeon (also a pilot), both from New York City, were killed in the crash of a Beechcraft G36 Bonanza on Saturday evening, July 3, in Colorado. David Zara, one of the founders of charter providers Zen Air and Tradewind Aviation, and Dr. Ruben Cohen took off from Aspen-Pitkin County Airport the early Saturday evening. But when a friend reported them overdue at their destination airport in Des Moines, Iowa, mid-morning on Sunday, local Colorado authorities launched a search for the Bonanza. It isn’t clear which of the two pilots was flying.
Recovery team returns to site of fatal plane crash east of Aspen aspentimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from aspentimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.