The identities of four people who died in a plane crash Sunday north of Purgatory Resort were released Tuesday, two of whom were pilots not rated to fly the type of aircraft they were operating.
Initial reports indicated five people died in the crash. The San Juan County Sheriff’s Office listed those who died as pilot Harold Joseph Raggio of Newberry Springs, California; Steven Dale Wilkinson, also of Newberry Springs; Rosalinda Leslie of Hesperia, California; and Michael Lyle Riley of Barstow, California, who also happened to be a pilot.
The plane crashed around 2 p.m. Sunday and was found at 11,500 feet in the upper limits of Cascade Creek on the east side of the canyon, inaccessible by road or trails.
A San Juan County Sheriff’s Office post to Facebook said four rescuers were flown in by helicopter to look for signs of life.
The next morning, additional emergency crews arrived on scene, knowing none of the passengers had survived.
“Through great effort, the rescuers were able to confirm the identities, and bring home the remains of all four victims,” the Facebook post said. The sheriff’s office is communicating with media only by social media.
Peter Knudson, spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board, said the two pilots on board were rated to fly single-engine aircrafts – not the multi-engine plane they were flying, a Cessna 310.
Multi-engine aircraft are more complex to operate, and can be more difficult to handle in cases of emergencies, Knudson said.
The plan is to bring down the remaining wreckage Thursday to an accessible location for a federal investigator to detail. Knudson said the debris field reached 300 yards in length. A preliminary report will be available within two weeks, but a final report could take up to a year.
Officials confirmed the aircraft left Barstow on Sunday morning en route to San Antonio – not Amarillo, Texas, as previously reported. The plane was last seen refueling in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Knudson said the pilots were not on a flight plan or communicating with flight traffic control. Instead, he said the pilots were navigating with reference to looking outside as opposed to following a path.
A variety of factors – including weather, proper training and equipment failure – will be taken into account during the investigation.
In addition to the sheriff’s office, Civil Air Patrol, the Air National Guard and La Plata County Search and Rescue took part in the emergency response. The NTSB and FAA are now handling the investigation.
In 2013, Raggio and Riley were included on the FAA’s Airmen Certification Database, a list of pilots who have “met or exceeded the high educational, licensing and medical standards,” set by the federal agency. It was not immediately known whether they had any training for multi-engine aircraft and had not reached a “rated” status.
jromeo@durangoherald.com
