A preliminary report regarding the July 3 fatal plane crash 9 miles east of Aspen noted that before takeoff, the pilots abandoned a pre-approved flight path in favor of taking their own.
A change in departure plans was the precursor to the accident that claimed the lives of two residents of New York, according to a preliminary report of the incident issued Wednesday by the National Transportation Safety Board.
Ruben Cohen and David Zara, both pilots, had landed at Aspen-Pitkin County Airport at 1:53 p.m. that Saturday to put fuel in the Beechcraft Bonanza and have lunch. They had flown in from Napa, Calif., using Aspen as the go-between for their final destination of the day, Des Moines, Iowa, according to flightaware.com.