Search crews Thursday recovered the body of a pilot killed when his single-engine plane crashed in the remote wilderness of the upper Fryingpan Valley.
Due to the terrain and weather conditions, Eagle County sheriff’s spokeswoman Shannon Cordingly said crews had been unable to reach the wreckage until Thursday.
The search for the plane began early Wednesday morning but at approximately 3 p.m., on Nov. 12, the recovery operations were officially suspended due to weather. “The helicopter was able to get within 4 miles of the landing zone and 1,000 feet of the crash site but was unable to safely land,” Cordingly said.
The Colorado Civil Air Patrol identified the pilot as 51-year-old Michael Loveless of Price, Utah. He was alone.
Colleen Loveless of Price told The Associated Press Michael Loveless was her husband and was killed in the crash.
Cordingly said Eagle County authorities have not released the pilot’s name.
Authorities said the plane disappeared Tuesday on a flight from the Denver area to Aspen. The plane left the Rocky Mountain Metro Airport in Jefferson County at about 2:45 p.m. and was last detected on radar at 3:30 p.m. near Lake Josephine in the Holy Cross Wilderness Area.
A National Guard helicopter spotted the plane east of the lake. The crew deemed the crash unsurvivable.
The search for the plane in snowy, steep terrain began early Wednesday but was called off in the afternoon because of bad weather.
