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two firefighters wearing air tanks picking through smoldering rubble from trailer homes and sheds that caught fire when a plane crashed into the neighborhood
Steamboat Springs firefighters work through the smoldering remains of a least two mobile homes in the West Acres Trailer Park that caught fire when a small plane crashed into the neighborhood around 4:25 p.m. on June 17, 2024. All of the people living in the neighborhood were accounted for, police said. However, the people on the plane, which was flying from Longmont to Ogden, Utah, were presumed dead. (Steamboat Springs Fire Department photo)

The two people aboard a small plane en route to Utah died Monday afternoon when it crashed into a Steamboat Springs mobile home park just south of the mountain town’s airport.

The Cessna 421, a small twin-engine transport plane, was traveling from Vance Brand airport in Longmont and crashed about 4:23 p.m. into West Acres Mobile Park, setting two homes and two outbuildings on fire, Steamboat Springs Fire Rescue said Monday evening. 

The plane was traveling to Ogden, Utah, the fire department said. The plane crashed just short of the Steamboat Springs Airport, which is less than 2 miles north of the neighborhood. 

Late Monday, the Steamboat Springs police department said the pilot and one passenger were in the plane. The Routt County coroner identified the victims Tuesday as 67-year-old Dan Dunn and 42-year-old Jessica Pauline Melton, both from the Longmont area.

The fire department said all residents of the mobile home park have been accounted for.

A photo posted to the Steamboat Springs Fire Rescue Facebook page about 5:15 p.m. shows white smoke rising from the West Acres Trailer Park as firefighters work to extinguish flames. 

Witnesses reported aircraft issues, the fire department said in a statement, but the cause of the crash remains under investigation. 

The Routt County Office of Emergency Management is working with residents impacted by the crash.

Third small-plane crash in a week, second into a neighborhood

The crash is the third reported plane crash in Colorado in less than two weeks. On Sunday, two people were hospitalized with serious injuries after their small plane crashed just off Interstate 25 near Larkspur, about 40 miles south of Denver. 

The Federal Aviation Administration said it will investigate the crash of the twin-engine Tecnam P2006T in partnership with the National Safety Transportation Board.

On June 7, four people were hospitalized, with injuries ranging from serious to critical, after a small plane crashed into the front yard of an Arvada home. All four people injured were in the plane.

A mother of three, from Parker, later died from her injuries, Colorado Community Media reported. 

The 1969 Beechcraft 35 crashed about 15 minutes after taking off from Centennial Airport south of Denver and was on its way to another suburban airport about 30 minutes to the northwest, Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport, the Associated Press reported. 

UPDATE: This story was updated at 12:57 p.m. on June 18, 2024 to include the names of the two people who were killed in the crash.

Olivia Prentzel covers breaking news and a wide range of other important issues impacting Coloradans for The Colorado Sun, where she has been a staff writer since 2021. At The Sun, she has covered wildfires, criminal justice, the environment,...