Monday 26 October 2026
A father and his two teenage sons are killed in a small plane crash near Swampy Pass in Gunnison County
Mark Hendrickson, 46, and his sons Alan, 15, and Case, 13, of New Castle, Colorado, were killed on Saturday morning when their single engine Piper PA-28 crashed near Swampy Pass in the West Elk Wilderness of Gunnison National Forest. The National Transportation Safety Board put the crash at just after 8:10 a.m., and Gunnison County received the report at about 9:20 a.m.
A family from New Castle lost three of its five members in the mountains west of Gunnison on Saturday morning.
The plane, a single engine Piper PA-28, went down in a remote stretch of the West Elk Wilderness in Gunnison National Forest, near Swampy Pass. The National Transportation Safety Board told reporters the crash happened just after 8:10 in the morning. Gunnison County officials said the first report of a crash reached them at about 9:20, and first responders made their way into the wilderness area and found the aircraft. All three people on board were dead.
The Gunnison County Coroner's Office identified them as Mark Hendrickson, 46, and his sons Alan Hendrickson, 15, and Case Hendrickson, 13. The family lives in New Castle, about 175 miles west of Denver on the Western Slope.
Mark Hendrickson is survived by his wife Jenni and by the boys' brother Coen. Jenni Hendrickson posted a statement on social media. "I never thought I would have to write these words," she wrote. "My loves of my life, Mark and our two beautiful boys, Alan and Case, tragically passed away in a plane crash yesterday." The boys' aunt, Niccole Ruby Hendrickson, confirmed the three were father and sons. Gunnison County officials said they offer their deepest condolences to the Hendrickson family.
No cause has been given. The crash is under investigation, and officials have not said where the flight began or where it was headed.
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