An airplane belonging to 67-year-old Barton Harris of Brownwood is missing after the aircraft went off radar late Wednesday afternoon in a heavy snowstorm in Colorado.
Search efforts went into the night as the twin-engine airplane went off radar during a snowstorm near Wolcott, Colorado Wednesday. Kris Friel, spokeswoman for the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office indicated that the plane registered to Harris, co-founder of W.T. Harris Company, was making its final approach to Eagle County Regional Airport in Gypsum and it dropped off the radar.
Radio calls from the Denver and Eagle County airports were not answered. It is thought that two passengers were aboard the aircraft and that a distress signal had been activated according to Colorado Civil Air Patrol Lt. Col. Mike McDonald.
Due to the intensity of the snowstorm, dozens of searches from many agencies were attempting to triangulate the signal and reach the plane because search planes were not able to fly, according to official reports.
McDonald stated that no engine trouble or other problems were expressed before the plane went off of radar. Official reports have not stated who was on board.
Thursday morning, around 9:00am CST, Eagle County Sheriff’s Office released the following report:
A National Guard OS58 helicopter crew has spotted the wreckage of an aircraft approximately 3.5 miles north of Edwards, near the area where a private plane lost radar contact with Eagle County Regional Airport (EGE) yesterday. The crew, based out of the High-Altitude Air National Guard Aviation Training Site at EGE, reported the sighting at approximately 7:15 a.m. Tail numbers of the downed aircraft have not been confirmed.
Yesterday’s missing aircraft is a Beech 60 Duke twin engine, registered to Barton Harris of Brownwood, Texas. The identity of the pilot and number of passengers, if any, are still unknown. The plane lost radar contact at about 4:30 p.m. yesterday (12/15). Emergency responders worked through the night searching an area surrounding the last place a signal was received.
Rescue crews are headed to the site of the wreckage, which is at an elevation of approximately 10,800 feet. More information will be released as it becomes available.
Sources close to the family state that Harris and a friend from out of state were headed to Colorado on a ski trip. The plane had landed previous to reaching this location, refueled but did not make it to the Eagle County Airport.
The family has been notified of the wreckage being spotted and that there were no indications of fire at the crash site. As search and rescue teams reach the wreckage more details will be released.
