Crews are searching for a single-engine plane officials believe crashed Sunday evening somewhere in southern Boulder County.
The U.S. Air Force Rescue Coordination Center sent an alert regarding a plane crash to Boulder County officials at 9:42 p.m. Sunday night, Boulder County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Vinnie Montez said during a news conference Monday morning. Crews are confident a plane crashed and that it is in Boulder County, but Montez hesitated to say the plane definitely went down Sunday night.
“We’re off treating it as it is (a crash), so that’s why we’re doing this rescue effort,” Montez said.
Crews are looking for the plane, a single-engine, fixed-wing private aircraft, south of Boulder, west of Colorado 93 and stretching throughout the county to the Continental Dividec, Montez said, speaking to reporters at the Eldorado Canyon Park and Ride. It is not an Air Force plane, Montez said.
One family member related to someone in the plane has been speaking with officials, Montez said.c He could not say how many people were on board the plane.
Sheriff’s Office crews have been looking for the plane, which took off from Longmont’s Vance Brand Airport, since Sunday night, taking a break overnight until about 9 a.m. Monday so they could use the daylightc, Montez said. The skies are clear and the wind is relatively calm, which should help crews with their search-and-rescue efforts, he said.
However, responders are being meticulous in their search because tree cover is dense enough in some areas that the ground isn’t visible from search-and-rescue aircraft, Montez said.c
Officials asked for a temporary flight restriction in the search area, and it should be granted sometime Monday, Montez said. Regardless of an official restriction, the Sheriff’s Office is asking people to avoid flying drones in the area while officials use Civil Air Patrol crews, medical evacuation aircraft and drones to look for the plane, he said.
Anyone who is out hiking Monday in southern Boulder County and sees what could be downed plane remnants should immediately call 911, Montez said. Anyone with information that could help crews in their search should also call 911 and cite Sheriff’s Office incident 26-04781.
Montez didn’t have information about when the plane took off Sunday or its heading.
This is a developing story and may be updated.
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