BOULDER, Colo. — The plane that crashed into a Boulder County mountain on Sunday was used by a company to give people tours up and down the front range – all four people on board were killed when the plane crashed and started a wildfire.
The company, Bluebird Aviation, describes itself online as offering “scenic air tours over Denver, Boulder and the mountains.” Pictures of the plane that crashed Sunday are all over the web pages for the company.
The FAA said the plane with the tail number N337KN crashed into a mountain this weekend killing the pilot and three other passengers on board. The tour company is based in Broomfield and flies out of Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport. The company has deleted most of its social media pages and has not responded to 9NEWS’ emails or calls.
First responders said the two-engine plane erupted into flames when it crashed. Firefighters worked to stop the wildfire from spreading. 9NEWS aviation analyst Greg Feith said investigators will now dig through the site to try and find clues that survived the flames.
"It’s very rare to find a fixed-winged airplane in the mountains doing any kind of tours just because of the limited performance they have, especially during the summertime," said Feith. "There aren’t too many fixed-winged, or airplane, tours especially in the mountains because they’re less maneuverable than the helicopters."
The FAA has only said one pilot and three passengers were on board when the plane crashed shortly after takeoff Sunday morning. Flight paths tracked online show the plane made similar flights often, sometimes flying multiple flights a day for around 40 minutes. The route takes people above Boulder, Denver and into the mountains. The plane made at least six similar trips in the past two weeks.
It took first responders more than a day to determine how many people were on that plane because the scene was too unsafe. A helicopter was also called in to fight the fire the plane caused. Luckily firefighters kept the fire to less than half an acre.
"When you look at the crash site, it’s very contained which suggests that the airplane had a lot of vertical energy and very little horizontal energy," said Feith. "They’re going to have to recover the wreckage which in some ways is a bit challenging because of where it is. They’re going to want to at least document as much as they can on scene."
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Latest from 9NEWS