Plane wreckage found in Colo.

Monday, Nov. 18, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

The twin-engine Piper Aerostar left the Eagle airport about 3 p.m. Sunday, bound for Minneapolis. The search began after the pilot, who had radioed the Eagle tower that he had and then solved an undisclosed problem, failed to check in with Denver air traffic controllers.

Searchers in two Colorado Air National Guard helicopters spotted the wreckage shortly after 7 a.m. about eight miles northeast of Eagle in the White River National Forest, said Kim Andree of the Eagle County Sheriff's Office. The location is about 100 miles west of Denver.

Four bodies were recovered and searchers were looking for the fifth, Andree said. The victims were not identified.

The weather was so bad in the mountains east of Eagle that the initial search was conducted by ground teams on snowmobiles. But conditions improved this morning, making the air search possible.

Mike O'Connor, Federal Aviation Administration regional duty officer in Seattle, said the pilot said he wanted to return shortly after takeoff because he was having a problem. A few minutes later, he told the Eagle tower the problem was corrected and he would continue on his original route.

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