Piper PA-28-235 Crash Near Swampy Pass in Colorado Kills a Man and Two Teenagers

A Piper PA-28-235 crashed into mountainous terrain in Gunnison County, Colorado, at about 8:11 a.m. on Saturday, October 24, 2026, the National Transportation Safety Board said. All three people on board were killed in the crash, which happened in a remote wilderness area near Swampy Pass.

The Gunnison County Coroner’s Office identified them as Mark Hendrickson, 46, Alan Hendrickson, 15, and Case Hendrickson, 13, all of New Castle, Colorado.

What is known so far

The Gunnison Regional 911 Center received a report of a small aircraft crash in a remote wilderness area near Swampy Pass at 9:20 a.m., Gunnison County said in a media release on Sunday. Emergency crews were sent to the area and located the crash site.

According to the sheriff’s office, all three occupants were found dead at the scene. The NTSB’s description of the aircraft type and the 8:11 a.m. time came in a Sunday update reported by The Denver Gazette.

Early Saturday updates from the sheriff’s office, relayed by CBS Colorado, placed the crash off Ohio Creek Road. The county’s Sunday release describes the site as a remote wilderness area near Swampy Pass.

Some first reports gave the family’s hometown as Rifle and the younger boy’s name as Chase. The Grand Junction station KREX later corrected its story, as published by KDVR, to New Castle and Case, the name The Denver Gazette also gives.

At the time of writing, officials had not said who was flying, where the flight began or where it was headed. The aircraft’s registration had not been published either.

The Gunnison County Sheriff’s Office, the NTSB and the U.S. Forest Service are investigating. No cause has been given.

In a statement carried by KREX, the family thanked the community for “the respect, compassion and support” it has received. Gunnison County extended its condolences to the Hendrickson family.

The aircraft and the terrain

The PA-28-235 is the 235 hp version of Piper’s Cherokee family, introduced in 1963 with a Lycoming O-540 engine and a gross weight of 2,900 pounds (1,315 kg). It was pitched against the Cessna 182 Skylane on load-carrying ability.

Swampy Pass lies west of Crested Butte, and the US Board on Geographic Names lists it at 10,249 feet (3,124 m). The exact elevation of the crash site has not been released.

Flying a light single over terrain like this is a discipline of its own. The FAA’s mountain flying pamphlet, produced with input from the Colorado Pilots Association, says mountain flying is “very unforgiving of poor training and planning”.

Its central concern is density altitude, the height at which the airplane actually performs once temperature is accounted for. A normally aspirated engine loses about 3% of its power for every 1,000 feet of density altitude, and the wings and propeller lose efficiency too.

Warm air is thinner, which is why the pamphlet notes density altitudes above 8,500 feet on Colorado’s eastern plains in summer. Cold helps, but altitude still costs: by the pamphlet’s rule of thumb, an engine at a density altitude of 10,000 feet has lost roughly 30% of its sea-level power.

The pamphlet also warns about wind. It advises crossing a ridge or pass at least 1,000 feet above it, 2,000 feet when mountaintop winds exceed 20 knots, to stay clear of the worst turbulence and downdrafts. Wind also speeds up as it funnels through a pass.

None of this indicates what happened near Swampy Pass. The weather, the airplane’s condition and its flight path that morning have not been made public.

What happens next

On its pages for other recent investigations, the NTSB says a preliminary report is expected within 30 days of an accident. That report holds the factual information gathered in the first phase of the investigation, not a cause.

The NTSB says it aims to complete an investigation within 12 to 24 months, when the final report gives the probable cause.

AeroCorner covered an earlier fatal Piper PA-28 crash near Chandler, Arizona, in July 2026.