911 audio released from plane crash
LOVELAND — Longmont police released the 911 recording Monday in Friday’s plane crash over southeast Longmont.
The first call to Longmont dispatchers came in at 11:43 a.m. In the call, a person tells dispatchers, “We just saw a plane go down” near the intersection of Colorado 119 and County Line Road.
“Do you see any smoke or flames?” the dispatcher asked.
“No, but we heard it go boom. We don’t see any smoke.”
Authorities believe two planes might have collided. The first to crash, a single-engine Cessna 172, apparently lost at least part of a wing and crashed about three-quarters of a mile south of 119, on the east side of County Line. Flight instructor Ryan Brungardt, 30, of Strasburg and his student, Edward “Lee” Omohundro, 64, of Evergreen were killed.
Three rescued from river. A 6-year-old girl was rescued from an icy river in western Colorado, along with her brother and another young boy who jumped in to try to save the girl, authorities and a witness said.
John Coffey of Hot Sulphur Springs said he ran to the bank of the Colorado River and called 911 when he heard one of the children screaming for help Saturday.
The girl fell into the river while playing on rocks, Coffey said Monday, and her 8-year-old brother jumped in to try to save her, but he got caught in the current.
“He kept screaming, ‘Save my little sister,’ ” Coffey said.
A 10-year-old neighbor boy who was with the children then entered the river to try to save them. Coffey managed to pull that boy out of the river before rescue crews arrived at the scene, about 65 miles northwest of Denver.
The children, whose names weren’t released, were taken to Middle Park Medical Center in Granby for evaluation. A hospital spokesman didn’t immediately return a call inquiring about their conditions.
Lyons to vote on medical cannabis •LYONS — Next week, owners of Lyons’ medical-marijuana dispensaries will learn their businesses’ fates.
The only ballot issue April 3 lets voters decide whether to ban all marijuana-related businesses from Lyons.
The community of 2,033 has three medical-marijuana dispensaries, all of which would have to close or relocate if the measure passes.
How likely is that? Mayor Julie Van Domelen was reluctant to say.
“From what I hear, it’s anyone’s guess,” she said. “I’d be surprised if it was a slam-dunk either way. If you’d asked me a year ago, I would have said, ‘For sure, it will be banned.’ “
Denver Post staff and wire reports
This article has been corrected in this online archive. The midair collision of two small airplanes occured over southeast Longmont.
