The National Transportation Safety Board said Sunday that all five passengers on board a small plane that crashed near an airport north of Denver were killed. The Piper PA-46 airplane crashed near the Erie Municipal Airport at about 11:50 a.m. Sunday, according to National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Peter Knudson.

Mountain View Fire Rescue Assistant Chief Roger Rademacher said Sunday that one injured passenger was transported to a hospital in Denver by air, and the second passenger was transferred to a hospital in Lafayette by ground — the other 3 were deceased at the scene of the crash.

Erie Police Cmdr. Lee Mathis says the six-passenger plane crashed a few hundred yards northwest of the runway, but he did not know if it was landing or taking off. A photo of the crash site posted on the Boulder Daily Camera's website showed the mangled wreckage of the plane, which crashed into a grassy field. Erie is about 20 miles north of Denver.

IN-DEPTH

- The Associated Press