Plane crashes outside Marble

Pilot dies; two passengers survive

A single-engine private plane—a Beech G35, according to the Federal Aviation Administration—carrying three passengers left for a sightseeing flight from the Marble airfield on Sunday, June 6, at approximately 6:30 a.m. According to information provided by the Gunnison County Sheriff’s Office, the plane went down around 6:45 a.m. approximately five miles northeast of Marble off of County Road 3 in a heavily wooded area in Gunnison County. The pilot and owner of the plane, 39-year-old William Michael Fritts of Osceda, Mo., succumbed to apparent injuries of the accident; however, his two female passengers survived.

Bill Folowell, investigator for the Gunnison County Sheriff’s Department, said the trio was on a sightseeing flight. Fritts was camping at the Marble airfield with his family, Folowell said. There he met mother and daughter Jeryl A. Schaver, age 56, and Kelly M. Schaver, age 21, both of Tucson, Ariz., and offered to take them on a scenic flight over the Marble area. Folowell said the women apparently didn’t know the pilot previously and were not related to him.
The cause of the crash is being investigated. Folowell said, “The weather was clear and perfect and we don’t have any indications that the engine was doing anything; our witnesses say it sounded normal to them.”
According to Folowell, “The 21-year-old woman was able to walk from the crash site to a nearby unoccupied cabin, and the phone was in service and she called 911. They were very fortunate the aircraft did not catch on fire, as there was fuel leaking out.”
The two crash survivors were taken to Valley View Hospital in Glenwood Springs with “recoverable” injuries. Kelly Schaver has since been released.