Crews trying to recover the bodies of four plane-crash victims from a Colorado mountainside were turned back Wednesday because the snow was too unstable for their helicopter to land.
“Every time (the copter) set down, it would start sliding down the mountain,” said Ouray County Sheriff Dominic Mattivi.
Avalanche threats and rugged terrain have kept recovery crews away from the site since the Civil Air Patrol found the wreckage Friday near 13,492- foot Whitehouse Mountain in southwestern Colorado.
The victims were identified as the pilot, Robert Ford, 59, of Chino, Calif.; his wife, Patricia, 57; their son Richard Ford, 36; and Richard Ford’s 4-year-old son, Matthew.
The plane was reported overdue May 12 when it failed to arrive in Elbert, about 150 miles from the crash site, where the family has a vacation home.
The bodies are in a ravine about 2,000 feet below the crash site.
Mattivi said rescue workers were trying to get a larger helicopter with the capability of lowering workers to the site.
Hiking to the wreckage was nearly impossible, he said.
