The National Transportation Safety Board on Saturday continued investigating a Gilpin County airplane crash, but it will take up to a year before the probable cause is announced.
Three factors will be investigated, a spokesman said: human error, mechanical failure and environmental issues.
Barry Maggert, 47, who owned an engineering business in Carbondale, died Thursday in the crash in a rugged, remote area.
Passenger Jonathan Holton, 23, was rescued before nightfall Thursday and flown to a Denver hospital. Gilpin County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Cherokee Blake said Holton, a family friend, suffered a broken ankle.
Maggert’s brother, professional golfer Jeff Maggert, withdrew from The Players Championship tournament in Florida, informing the PGA tour that his brother had been killed, according to ESPN.
Barry Maggert was flying to Boulder to attend the graduation of one of his sons, 23-year-old Lee Maggert, from the University of Colorado on Friday, family friends said.
Lee Maggert was scheduled to receive his bachelor’s degree in architectural engineering, said Bronson Hilliard, a spokesman for CU. Hilliard did not know whether the graduate showed up at Friday’s ceremony at Folsom Field.
“Obviously, our hearts go out to his family and him,” Hilliard said. “It is a terrible, terrible situation.”
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Mike Fergus in Seattle said one of the people on board called 911 from a cellphone after the crash.
Barry Maggert was an experienced pilot and coached Little League baseball over the years. He also was an avid golfer.
“He was a real family man,” said John Foulkrod, a Carbondale town trustee and longtime friend. “He coached all the kids in baseball. He did a lot of things with the boys.”
Foulkrod described Maggert as a Libertarian who always was eager to share his point of view.
“If you got to know Barry, he was a character,” Foulkrod said. “He always spoke his mind, and he could be way off the wall on some of these issues, but he would stick by it and tell you why.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
