Alamosa – A single-engine plane crash Thursday near Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve killed Pueblo Community College president Mike Davis, the school and authorities said.
Davis, 54, was flying his Piper PA-24 to Durango, where he planned to land and drive to Cortez to open a new office, the school said in a statement.
A ranger with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management reported a possible plane crash about 10 a.m., according to the Colorado State Patrol. The wreckage and Davis’ body were discovered about 6:30 p.m., according to the Saguache County Sheriff’s Office.
The cause of the crash about 160 miles south of Denver was not immediately known.
“Dr. Davis was respected and loved by his colleagues,” said Nancy McCallin, Colorado Community College System president. “He will be missed terribly, and our thoughts and prayers are extended to his family, to the students, faculty and staff at PCC and to the Pueblo community.”
Before moving to Colorado, Davis was an administrator at Vincennes University in Indiana, his home state.
Davis became the school’s president in 2001 after serving as executive vice president and interim president in 2000. He had earned his pilot’s license last spring and had logged more than 300 flight hours, according to a statement from the school.
A tail number provided by the Federal Aviation Administration showed the plane was registered to Davis in November 2004.
