The Frederick man and an unidentified person who flew into Sierra Grande, according to a preliminary National Transportation Safety Board report.
Doug Hoverter and an unidentified person departed from Pueblo Memorial Airport headed for Uvalde, Texas, at 10:10 p.m. Aug. 13, before the plane crashed around 11 that night, according to online flight tracking service FlightAware. The plane flew into “wooded terrain” on the north side of Sierra Grande, an extinct stratovolcano near Des Moines, New Mexico. The plane was destroyed, according to the NTSB report.
The plane initially crashed into a 20-foot tree before catching fire and breaking into pieces that spread as far apart as 300 feet. All major parts of the plane were found at the site, according to the report, and the wreckage was sent to a secure location for further investigation, according to the report.
New Mexico State Police responded to a call the following day around 4:15 p.m., when the pilot did not arrive for work in Uvalde, according to the preliminary report.
Hoverter had flown out of Erie Municipal Airport bound for Pueblo Memorial Airport at 7:39 p.m. Aug. 13.
Online flight trackers and the Federal Aviation Administration show that Hoverter owned the crashed plane, a single-engine Beech M35 registered with tail number N951T.
Hoverter was an aircraft failure investigator at Aeroscope Inc. According to the company’s website, Hoverter specialized in “failure investigation and analysis of airframes, engines and aircraft systems.” He had worked at the company since 2008 and had been involved in more than 500 investigations.
He was licensed as an airline transport pilot, flight instructor and mechanic, according to the FAA.
