A single-engine planed crashed Monday morning into Culver Reservoir near Berthoud. The two male occupanets of the plane were declared dead at an area hosiptal, according to a press release from the Larimer County Sherriff’s Office.
Berthoud Fire and Rescue and Loveland Fire and Rescue responded to a call that came in at appoximatley 7:45 a.m. Divers were in the water at 8:03 a.m.
The individuals were in the water for about 50 minutes, said Stephen Charles, fire chief of Berthoud Fire and Rescue. The estimated time of the crash was about 7:38 a.m., according to Vicki Phelton, public information officer for Berthoud Fire and Rescue.
“We had area neighbors who witnessed the crash,” Charles said.
From what Phelton was told by crews on the scene, the plane nosedived into the water.
“I didn’t hear a thing,” said Christie Prewitt, a resident on the reservoir.
Her dogs barking and the sounds of an ambulance nearby got her to look out the window.
“It was like, oh my god, what is going on,” she said.
Prewitt said that hearing plane traffic is not unusual and due to pilots trying stunts over that area, she is used to hearing odd sounds from overhead.
“Hearing planes doing weird things would not alert me,” she said.
Larimer County sheriff’s spokesman Jared Kramer said about 20 deputies and divers are working with a tow company to recover the small plane from the reservoir.
Kramer said two people were transported to a hospital that he said he would not identify. He said he does not know whether they will release the identities of the two people.
A Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport official said they are investigating whether the plane took off from their runways.
David Moore, public information officer for Larimer County Sheriff’s Office said at a press conference that the Federal Aviation Adminsitration and the National Transportation Safety Board were notified and will investigate but were not on scene yet.
Longmont Times-Call reporter Amelia Arvesen contributed to this story.
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