A plane built by a Greeley man crashed Sunday in Loveland, killing his son-in-law and leaving the man in critical condition.
Pilot William F. Sheel was admitted to Denver Health Medical Center, according to family friend Robyn Roggy. The pilot’s son-in-law, Jay Schneider, did not survive the accident.
The plane crashed around 9:15 a.m. in an open field about 1,500 feet west of the runway at the Fort Collins/Loveland Airport, according to Allen Kenitzer, spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration.
Federal investigators were on the scene but did not know what caused the accident, he said.
“It doesn’t even seem real,” Roggy said from the Sheel home Sunday. “Your brain doesn’t hardly want to get around it.”
The Sheels’ kitchen table was set and decorated to celebrate Schneider’s birthday, Roggy said.
The two men had gone for a morning flight in a Vans RV-8 experimental airplane registered to Sheel.
Sheel built the plane last year, according to its registration.
“This is a super-fine airplane,” said Dean Hall, who became acquainted with Sheel about three years ago. “I have looked at that airplane carefully and have flown it, and they don’t come any better,” he said.
Hall said he’s flown with Sheel in the plane at least six times.
“Bill Sheel has a good attitude and a good aptitude,” Hall said. “He’s a fine pilot.”
Schneider had married into the family in May, but it was not the first time he and Sheel had gone flying together, said Roggy, the family friend.
“What we’re praying for now is that Bill will make it,” Roggy said.
“Bill is a person of faith, and the family is really turning to the Lord for strength.”
Staff writer Michelle Wallar can be reached at 303-820-1201 or mwallar@denverpost.com.
