Three people were killed after two small planes collided midair Saturday near Boulder County, Colorado, authorities said.
The Boulder County Sheriff’s Department said the collision took place over Longmont shortly before 9 a.m. The planes crashed in separate sites, with debris found on the north and south sides of Niwot Road.
Deputies confirmed there were two deceased occupants when responding to the southern crash site. One person was found dead in the wreckage of the northern crash site.
The National Transportation Safety Board said the two planes involved in the crash were a Cessna 172 and a Sonex Xenos aircraft.
NTSB officials said the two people in the Cessna were an instructor and a student, according to a Saturday evening press conference reported by KUSA, the NBC affiliate for Denver. There was only one occupant in the Sonex.
Preliminarily, NTSB lead investigator Mike Folkerts said neither aircraft was equipped with a collision avoidance system. Neither aircraft was required to have that capability by Federal Aviation Administration regulations.
None of the aircraft was in communication with air traffic control at the time of the collision, per the NTSB. But again, Mr. Folkerts said they weren’t required to be.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.
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