GRAND JUNCTION — A gyroplane pilot and passenger killed in a crash in western Colorado on Saturday were in-laws who had decided to fly over the Colorado National Monument, a family member said.
The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel reported Wednesday that Mark Shook, 61, was an experienced aviator and businessman and a former school board member.
His wife’s sister, Rebecca Molle, 50, was the passenger. She was an avid horsewoman who had worked as a dental assistant.
The Xenon R gyroplane crashed into the Colorado River northwest of Grand Junction. Gyroplanes look like helicopters, but they are powered by propellers. Air flow created by the aircraft’s forward motion spins the rotors, which provide lift.
Shook and Molle intended to fly over the national monument, a 32-square-mile preserve of plateaus and canyons outside Grand Junction, Shook’s son Tom said. They took off from Grand Junction Regional Airport.
The National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary report said the aircraft struck power lines. The cause is under investigation.
Shook and Molle were the only people aboard, and no one on the ground was injured, officials said. The Mesa County Coroner’s Office said Shook died of injuries from the crash and Molle drowned.
Tom Shook said his father lived in Peyton, northeast of Colorado Springs and was visiting Molle, who lived in Grand Junction.
