Snowy Weather A Factor?

Two separate plane crashes last week took the lives of five people as snow fell across central Wyoming around the time the planes took off, according Al Ross, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Riverton, WY.

The Natrona County Coroner's Office identified victims of the first crash as Wyoming laundry business owner and pilot David Hinkle and Kyle Moser, who was the company's district manager, according to the Wyoming Star-Tribune.

Hinkle's Cessna 182R crashed Wednesday night, killing both men on impact. The plane left Gillette for Lander about 8 pm.

According to the coroner, Hinkle flew to Gillette to bring Moser to Lander for a business meeting. Hinkle was an "experienced pilot," said Bill Sniffin, a friend of more than 20 years, adding that Hinkle often flew around the state on business.

Stan Skrabut with the Civil Air Patrol said the patrol received a phone call at 11:05 pm Wednesday, launching a search at 9:10 am Thursday. The air crew was performing electronic reconnaissance, Skrabut said, but visually located the wreckage of the Cessna at 9:35 am.

The plane appeared to have come to rest about 100 yards from where it first hit the ground, he said. There was no evidence of a fire.

On Friday, the wreckage of a downed Piper PA-28-180 was located by searchers in the area of Brown's Peak, in the Snowy Range, about 30 miles west of Laramie. The three people aboard were found dead, said the Albany County coroner, of the Wednesday crash.

The Piper was enroute to Nebraska from California, according to Rock Springs Airport Manager Gary Valentine. It landed in Rock Springs at 8:30 pm Wednesday to refuel and took off at 9:19 pm. It disappeared after 10 pm, according to the Jackson Hole Star Tribune.

The plane was registered by Archer Nevada LLC of Carson City, NV. No identities have been released.

FMI: www.faa.gov, www.ntsb.gov, www.crh.noaa.gov/riw