Mom, three kids among Colo. plane crash victims

WELD COUNTY - The victims killed in Sunday's plane crash near the Erie Municipal Airport have been identified.

Family members say 67-year-old Oliver Frascona, the pilot, who also had the plane registered to his company, was killed in the crash. The other four people on board were identified as 41-year-old Tori Rains-Wedan and her three children: 15-year-old Mason Wedan and 11-year-old twins Austin and Hunter Wedan.

The Federal Aviation Administration says the single-engine Piper PA 46 crashed under unknown circumstances. The plane had taken off from Centennial Airport, according to the NTSB, and was trying to land at Erie, its final destination, when it went down.

Erie Police Cmdr. Lee Mathis said the six-passenger plane crashed a few hundred yards northwest of the runway. Mathis said a dog was also aboard the plane. The dog did not survive the crash.

The crash was reported by a driver passing by the airport at 11:50 a.m.

Erie Police confirmed that two people were flown to hospitals from the scene. Officials confirmed that all five passengers had succumbed to their injuries at around 4:30 p.m.

Boulder County resident Jan Culver was with a friend in a nearby pasture when the plane crashed. She said she didn't hear anything – all she saw was a plume of dust shoot into the air.

"It was a situation where it was quiet. Very quiet," she said.

Culver, a member of the Boulder County Reserve Corps, drove across the field to where the plane was.

"It was a scene where you could tell that nobody could do anything right now," she said.

The FAA and NTSB are launching an investigation into the crash. During that time, parts of the Coal Creek Trail will remain closed, according to a news release from the town of Erie.

The Boulder Daily Camera reports that Rains-Wedan owned a company that offers education classes to real estate agents.

Boulder Valley School District spokesman Briggs Gamblin says grief counselors would be available at the schools the boys attended.

"He's a great guy, lot of energy, really great attorney, Colorado native, loved aviation, neighbor Tom Vanlone said. "I consider him a friend."

Frascona's law partner, Jon Goodman, sent the following statement:

Everyone on that plane touched the lives of many. The law firm morns their tragic death. May they all live on in the memories of those that loved them.

Contributing: The Associated Press