A helicopter-like aircraft crashed into a river in western Colorado killing two people on Saturday, authorities told The Daily Sentinel in Grand Junction and Denver's KUSA-TV. No injuries were reported to have occurred on the ground.
Shortly after 6 p.m., the gyroplane crashed into the Colorado River near Loma after taking off from the Grand Junction Airport, about 20 miles southeast of the crash site, the Mesa County Sheriff's Department said. Two adults were confirmed to be on-board, but their names were not immediately released, Mesa County Chief Deputy Coroner Victor Yahn told The Associated Press, adding that authorities didn't have any other information.
Two fisherman witnessed the accident and pulled at least one victim from the wreckage, first-responders told the Daily Sentinel. The gyroplane crashed nearby when Ron Jenkins and another man were fishing on the bank of the Colorado River.
It began to fishtail and sparks were flying from it before it crashed nose-first in shallow water, he told the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, adding that the pair rushed to their boat, went downriver to the gyroplane and managed to remove one victim by cutting a seat belt, he said.
However, the victim's, whose names weren't immediately released, have been confirmed to be dead. Their autopsies are being planned, CBS News reported.
The crash also disrupted electric service to some areas, but no details were available, the sheriff's department said. By Sunday morning, the service had been restored, Grand Valley Power said.
The aircraft was a Xenon gyroplane, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer said. Gyroplanes look like helicopters but are powered by propellers. Air flow created by the aircraft's forward motion spins the rotors, which provide lift.
The FAA and the National Transportation Board are investigating, Mesa County Sheriff's spokeswoman Lisa McCammon told the Denver Post.
