The two pilots who died in a fiery crash outside a Colorado airport had been flying a recently purchased home-kit airplane, officials said.
A preliminary probe into the June 23 deaths of pilots Alejandro Antunez, 53, and Lawrence Skinner, 61, found that the men were flying a commercial, assemble-it-yourself aircraft when the plane crashed and burned less than a mile from the Montrose Regional Airport.
Antunez had recently purchased the “Murphy Moose” float plane, a Canadian aircraft touted as an “easy” kit that comes with pre-assembled parts, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
“Designed for safety and serviceability, Moose is easy to assemble, inspect and service,” manufacturer Murphy Air states on its website.
“The Moose is designed for the first time builder. No building jigs required,” the company adds.
The plane that Antunez and Skinner flew did not have a current registration with the Federal Aviation Administration, the NTSB found.
The federal agency did not state exactly where or when Antunez purchased the kit plane, but officials said the aircraft was originally put together in 2008.
An online ad for a plane with the same tail number as the one Antunez flew in was listed for sale until January 2024 in Colorado, where the two men would takeoff from on June 23.
Antunez and Skinner — both from Fort Myers, Florida — had stopped by Montrose to refuel on a trip from Colorado to the Sunshine State.
During the 10 a.m. liftoff, the home-kit plane failed to climb or gain speed, soaring out-of-control northward from the airport until it struck the embankment of a dirt driveway less than a mile away from the runway, the NTSB said.
The crash caused the plane to explode into an inferno, killing the men and leaving a charred wreck in its wake.
The NTSB took possession of the wreckage, as investigators are still determining what caused the fatal crash and whether the men died upon impact.
Officials noted that Antunez was a properly rated pilot for a single-engine land and seaplane who also had commercial pilot privileges for single-engine seaplanes.
Skinner, who was serving as the co-pilot, was employed as a commercial airplane pilot and certified airplane mechanic at the time of the crash, and he also held flight instructor certificates for various aircraft.
