PIERRE, S.D.(KCCR) Federal investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are in Pierre to continue the investigation into a fatal plane crash Monday afternoon. Hughes County Sheriff Patrick Callahan says the pilot, 59 year-old Eric Meyer of Steamboat Springs, Colorado took off from Pierre Regional Airport around four-pm Monday afternoon. At 4:11 pm, Meyer called air traffic control to indicate the engine failed in his single engine Piper Malibu Mirage. Meyer’s passenger 76 year-old Hugh Alexander, also of Steamboat Springs died in the crash. According to the flight tracking website FlightAware the plane left Colorado Saturday and was to return Monday.

It’s shown as leaving Pierre Monday afternoon for Steamboat but is listed as “diverted” The last entry shows a 16 minute flight with Pierre as both the departure and arrival locations. A track of the plane shows it taking off to the east then circling back west. It turned around over Stanley County where it made a loop over the Missouri River. That’s when the green track becomes gray and the remainder of the path to Pierre Regional Airport is estimated. At the time the track changes, approximately at the location the plane was found it’s altitude was listed at 1200 feet with an airspeed of 92 miles per hour. The plane is registered to Icarus Management L-L-C of Great Falls, Montana.