Three men died when a private plane from Telluride hit a power line and exploded as the plane was approaching a private dirt landing strip along the Gunnison River east of Delta on Thursday morning.
The plane crashed within 150 yards of the main building at the Gunnison River Farms, an upscale, private bird-hunting club and yoga retreat owned by several Telluride residents.
A witness to the aftermath of the crash, about 10 miles east of Delta and 3 miles south of Colorado 92, said small pieces of the plane scattered along the river on the edge of an alfalfa field and into a peach orchard surrounding the main house.
At the scene, there was nothing left but small bits of wreckage. The fuselage and the wings had disintegrated.
Pilot Glenn Thomas Harcourt of Sawpit and two unidentified passengers from Grand Junction and Maryland took off from Telluride Regional Airport about 9:30 a.m. and were flying to the ranch to work on a construction project, according to Telluride Mayor John Pryor, who was a friend and flight student of Harcourt’s. The passengers’ names haven’t been released by authorities.
Witnesses told authorities that the Cessna 182 Skyline hit a power line about 11 a.m. and exploded in midair.
Delta County Undersheriff Mark Taylor said his office was mainly concerned with removing bodies from the wreckage Thursday and was waiting for Federal Aviation Administration investigators to arrive today to determine if the plane was attempting to land at the private ranch strip when it crashed.
Friends of Harcourt’s in Telluride said he had flown to the ranch previously and landed on the strip, which is about 300 to 400 yards from the ranch house.
“He was a wonderful, wonderful man. He was a great instructor,” said former Telluride Mayor John Steele, who also took flight lessons from Harcourt.
Steele said Harcourt had been flying for five or six years.
“He was very thorough. He was thrilled to be up in the air,” Steele said.
Harcourt is survived by a wife and two young children, ages 4 months and 3.
“He was a heck of a man. This is a great loss to the community,” said Pryor, who took a flight lesson from Harcourt last week.
Correspondent Gary Hubbell contributed to this report.
Staff writer Nancy Lofholm can be reached at 970-256-1957 or nlofholm@denverpost.com.
