Broomfield Plane Crash: Witness Hears 'Strange Noises' Before Impact

BROOMFIELD, CO — Just before a single-engine plane crashed in Broomfield on Sunday, a witness reported hearing "strange noises," police said.

A Piper 32-260 departed Erie Municipal Airport and crashed just before noon Sunday near homes in the Anthem Ranch neighborhood, near Lowell Boulevard and Las Brisas Drive, Broomfield police said. Both people in the plane died.

While no bystanders were hurt and no homes were damaged, the outcome could've been very different.

“The area between the homes is an open space and it’s kind of a fly away zone for the airport,” Chris Roarity, president of the local homeowners association, told KDVR-TV. “This airplane was taking off and going towards the south. This, of course, is even more frightening because it’s very close, it could’ve easily hit a home or resident.”

The National Transportation Safety Board was addressing the media around 9 a.m. Monday about the crash.

When a pilot seemed to make a left turn, the left wing dipped and the plane crashed into a tree just 100 feet from a house, NTSB spokesman Mike Folkerts told media outlets. The plane was in the air for likely less than a minute.

Weather was fine at the time of the crash, and one witness "described hearing strange noises from the plane shortly before impact," police said. Folkerts said the witness described hearing two "carburetor coughs," which could indicate an issue with the engine.

There appeared to be a shallow ascent and six propeller strikes on the road.

The NTSB hopes to have a preliminary report completed in 10 days. Both of the victims were pilots with private licenses. Their names and ages were still not available for public release, police said.