JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. — The pilot who died in a plane crash in southwestern Jefferson County on Saturday evening has been identified as 66-year-old Lelon Lewis, of Lakewood, officials said Monday.
The crash happened about 8:15 p.m., about 7 miles west of Deckers.
Civil Air Patrol, the sheriff’s office, and other law enforcement agencies were on the ground and in the air Sunday morning searching for the wreckage in rough terrain near the Wigwam Creek Trail northwest of Cheesman Lake and west of Sugarloaf Peak.
Video from Denver7’s helicopter showed Civil Air Patrol flying in the area and search crews on the ground in heavily-wooded and steep terrain.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said just before 11:30 a.m. Sunday the plane had been located.
The FAA said in a statement that the plane was a single-engine Magnus Fusion 212 and that only the pilot was on board the plane when it crashed. The FAA did not immediately release the tail number of the plane, but video from the scene confirmed the tail number. FAA records show the plane is registered to Magnus Aircraft Incorporated.
Video shot by Denver7's helicopter Sunday afternoon showed the plane had crashed on a mountainside in steep terrain among trees and crews working at the scene.
The NTSB, which is investigating the crash, said Sunday afternoon that the plane departed Colorado Air & Space Port in Watkins on Saturday. The agency said an air safety investigator was scheduled to arrive at the scene of the crash on Monday morning.
