Daniel Brenner, Special to the Denver PostThree girls play on a trampoline in the backyard where debris from a single-engine plane crash struck a house Saturday, May 12, 2018 in Parker, CO. At least one passenger is dead after the incident and no ground injuries have been reported. The plane left from Centennial airport Friday night and crashed in a field. A portion of the plane struck a nearby house and was embedded in the exterior wall. Details of what caused the crash are not yet available. (Photo by Daniel Brenner/Special to the Denver Post)
Daniel Brenner, Special to the Denver PostPARKER, COLORADO - May 12: Debris embedded in a house after a single-engine plane crashed Saturday, May 12, 2018 in Parker, CO. At least one passenger is dead after the incident and no ground injuries have been reported. The plane left from Centennial airport Friday night and crashed in a field. A portion of the plane struck a nearby house and was embedded in the exterior wall. Details of what caused the crash are not yet available. (Photo by Daniel Brenner/Special to the Denver Post)
Daniel Brenner, Special to the Denver PostAn emergency responder surveys a single-engine plane crashed Saturday, May 12, 2018 in Parker, CO. At least one passenger is dead after the incident and no ground injuries have been reported. The plane left from Centennial airport Friday night and crashed in a field. A portion of the plane struck a nearby house and was embedded in the exterior wall. Details of what caused the crash are not yet available. (Photo by Daniel Brenner/Special to the Denver Post)
Daniel Brenner, Special to the Denver PostPARKER, COLORADO - May 12: Police survey the area after a single-engine plane crashed Saturday, May 12, 2018 in Parker, CO. At least one passenger is dead after the incident and no ground injuries have been reported. The plane left from Centennial airport Friday night and crashed in a field. A portion of the plane struck a nearby house and was embedded in the exterior wall. Details of what caused the crash are not yet available. (Photo by Daniel Brenner/Special to the Denver Post)
Daniel Brenner, Special to the Denver PostNeighbors look at the scene after a single-engine plane crashed Saturday, May 12, 2018 in Parker, CO. At least one passenger is dead after the incident and no ground injuries have been reported. The plane left from Centennial airport Friday night and crashed in a field. A portion of the plane struck a nearby house and was embedded in the exterior wall. Details of what caused the crash are not yet available. (Photo by Daniel Brenner/Special to the Denver Post)
Daniel Brenner, Special to the Denver PostNeighbors look at the scene after a single-engine plane crashed Saturday, May 12, 2018 in Parker, CO. At least one passenger is dead after the incident and no ground injuries have been reported. The plane left from Centennial airport Friday night and crashed in a field. A portion of the plane struck a nearby house and was embedded in the exterior wall. Details of what caused the crash are not yet available. (Photo by Daniel Brenner/Special to the Denver Post)
Daniel Brenner, Special to the Denver PostEmployees of Beegles Aircraft Services remove an engine that struck a house after a single-engine plane crashed Saturday, May 12, 2018 in Parker, CO. At least one passenger is dead after the incident and no ground injuries have been reported. The plane left from Centennial airport Friday night and crashed in a field. A portion of the plane struck a nearby house and was embedded in the exterior wall. Details of what caused the crash are not yet available. (Photo by Daniel Brenner/Special to the Denver Post)
Daniel Brenner, Special to the Denver PostEmergency responders photograph an engine after a single-engine plane crashed Saturday, May 12, 2018 in Parker, CO. At least one passenger is dead after the incident and no ground injuries have been reported. The plane left from Centennial airport Friday night and crashed in a field. A portion of the plane struck a nearby house and was embedded in the exterior wall. Details of what caused the crash are not yet available. (Photo by Daniel Brenner/Special to the Denver Post)
Daniel Brenner, Special to the Denver PostPARKER, COLORADO - May 12: Girls look through the hole where an engine struck a house after a single-engine plane crashed Saturday, May 12, 2018 in Parker, CO. At least one passenger is dead after the incident and no ground injuries have been reported. The plane left from Centennial airport Friday night and crashed in a field. A portion of the plane struck a nearby house and was embedded in the exterior wall. Details of what caused the crash are not yet available. (Photo by Daniel Brenner/Special to the Denver Post)
Daniel Brenner, Special to the Denver PostPARKER, COLORADO - May 12: Employees of Beegles Aircraft Services remove an engine that struck a house after a single-engine plane crashed Saturday, May 12, 2018 in Parker, CO. At least one passenger is dead after the incident and no ground injuries have been reported. The plane left from Centennial airport Friday night and crashed in a field. A portion of the plane struck a nearby house and was embedded in the exterior wall. Details of what caused the crash are not yet available. (Photo by Daniel Brenner/Special to the Denver Post)
Daniel Brenner, Special to the Denver PostThe homeowner, right, and others watch as an engine is removed from their house after a single-engine plane crashed Saturday, May 12, 2018 in Parker, CO. At least one passenger is dead after the incident and no ground injuries have been reported. The plane left from Centennial airport Friday night and crashed in a field. A portion of the plane struck a nearby house and was embedded in the exterior wall. Details of what caused the crash are not yet available. (Photo by Daniel Brenner/Special to the Denver Post)
Daniel Brenner, Special to the Denver PostNeighbors look at the scene after a single-engine plane crashed Saturday, May 12, 2018 in Parker, CO. At least one passenger is dead after the incident and no ground injuries have been reported. The plane left from Centennial airport Friday night and crashed in a field. A portion of the plane struck a nearby house and was embedded in the exterior wall. Details of what caused the crash are not yet available. (Photo by Daniel Brenner/Special to the Denver Post)
Daniel Brenner, Special to the Denver PostA plane flies nearby after a single-engine plane crashed Saturday, May 12, 2018 in Parker, CO. At least one passenger is dead after the incident and no ground injuries have been reported. The plane left from Centennial airport Friday night and crashed in a field. A portion of the plane struck a nearby house and was embedded in the exterior wall. Details of what caused the crash are not yet available. (Photo by Daniel Brenner/Special to the Denver Post)
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Three girls play on a trampoline in the backyard where debris from a single-engine plane crash struck a house Saturday, May 12, 2018 in Parker, CO. At least one passenger is dead after the incident and no ground injuries have been reported. The plane left from Centennial airport Friday night and crashed in a field. A portion of the plane struck a nearby house and was embedded in the exterior wall. Details of what caused the crash are not yet available. (Photo by Daniel Brenner/Special to the Denver Post)
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GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (AP) — The pilot killed in a small plane crash near Denver was a veterinarian and a former search and rescue volunteer.
Sixty-seven-year-old Robert D. Marquis was killed Friday night in a crash that happened soon after his Cirrus SR-22 took off from Centennial Airport.
The that he opened Tiara Rado Animal Hospital in Grand Junction in 1983.
He served on the Mesa County Search and Rescue Team for nearly four years. Team member Doug Sieckert says Marquis never backed down from difficult missions and had a “passionate heart” for helping the community.
Authorities have not yet determined the cause of the crash. Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor says Marquis indicated that he wanted to return to the airport soon after takeoff but he didn’t say why.
