The causes of two unrelated fatal Colorado plane crashes days before Christmas will remain hidden in snow for some time to come, according to a preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board.
Investigators will return after the snow melts to investigate the site of a crash involving a Steamboat Springs couple on Dec. 22 in Moffat County, the NTSB said.
And the plane wreckage and bodies of a Canadian couple with remain until spring near the Summit of Vermejo Peak in Costillo County, as the result of Dec. 20 crash, where steep Avalanche-prone terrain has thwarted recovery attempts.
Steamboat Springs pilot Joe Brumleve reported problems with his landing gear just before his otherwise routine landing at Yampa Valley Regional Airport in Hayden on Dec. 22.
He aborted his landing then radioed in that everything appeared fine, according to the NTSB. The plane dropped off radar and crashed about 10 miles away, killing Brumeleve and his wife, Suzette, both 67.
They had flown home from Hutchinson, Kan., in their single-engine Piper.
Investigators also have not been able to examine the wreckage of a twin-engine Beechcraft plane that crashed in to Vermejo Peak on Dec. 20, killing pilot Gerrit Maureau, 67, and his wife, Sheila Malm, 65.
Crews have said they would try a recovery in the spring.
The NTSB found that the flight, bound for Sante Fe, N.M., was on cruise at 18,000 feet began an “uncontrolled descent” crashing within about 150 yards of the 13,367-foot summit.
