Two vacationing Denver-area dentists died when an explosion blew a wing off their single-engine plane and the aircraft crashed while descending into Kansas City International Airport.
Marty Bench, 46, and Doug Leon ardson, 35, were killed Monday evening when their plane went down in a field 5 miles from the airport, according to friend Lance McMurtrey.
The colleagues and best friends, both licensed pilots, had taken off from an airstrip near Lake of the Ozarks, Mo., to fly to Kansas City, Mo., to pick up another friend. They had been on a camping and boating trip with their families.
“I don’t know what happened, but it fell apart in the sky,” McMurtrey said Tuesday.
Capt. Frank Hunter of the Platte County Sheriff’s Department said the pilot called the airport tower after crossing over the Missouri River and said he could see the runway and was ready to land, Hunter said. There were no distress calls, he said.
One of the plane’s wings fell off in the air in clear weather and landed about a quarter-mile from the crash site, Hunter said. McMurtrey said Leonardson bought the plane about four months ago.
Bench and Leonardson, who shared an office building but kept separate offices near the Westminster Mall, often vacationed together, friends and relatives said. Bench was an oral surgeon. Leonardson was an endodontist.
Bench and Leonardson enjoyed similar pursuits: flying, boating, wake boarding and bike riding, especially in Moab, Utah. In the summer, Bench would often ride his bike into work from his home in Superior.
“He was one of the most generous people I have ever met in my life,” said Pam DeBrine, Bench’s sister-in-law. “It didn’t matter if you were family or not, he would give you the shirt off his back.”
Bench’s daughter, Haley, said he enjoyed making life better for others and surprising his wife, Gail, with gifts, both big and small. At Bench’s Superior home Tuesday, family members sorted through old photos, including one of Haley’s wedding, where Bench had his arm around his two sons-in-law, grinning widely.
“He had that smile on his face every day,” Mike Bowen, Haley’s husband, said. “He loved life.”
Leonardson’s home, overlooking a placid lake east of Longmont, sat dark Tuesday. Neighbor Michelle Murphy said she was still in shock from hearing the news.
“We loved them the second we met them,” she said of the Leonardsons. “They are such a great family.”
She said Leonardson was active and enthusiastic. He was devoted to his family, she said, and his faith.
Both Bench and Leonardson were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Leonardson’s wife, Melissa, declined to comment except to say, through Murphy, that both victims were men who loved their families.
Bench leaves five children and four grandchildren. Leonardson has three children.
Staff writer Kirk Mitchell can be reached at 303-820-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com.
Staff writer John Ingold can be reached at 720-929-0898 or jingold@denverpost.com.
