Tragedy

Work takes me by obscure places off the beaten path. Today was one.  There is a nice memorial to the 1/27/2001 airplane crash that took ten lives near Byers, CO.

Detail are below for those interested.

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_State_Cowboys_basketball_team_plane_crash

Normally stoic, places like this make me choke up.

Preventable Accident

Very experience pilot and a senior game warden were shotgunning coyotes. No muzzle cage for the shotgun. Shot hit the lift strut. Neither survived.

Addendum. http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=125428 This is not what happened. The owner is correct but there were two fatalities. 

In 1969 I was flying another game warden doing the same thing. We installed a cage to contain the muzzle. Didn't stop the damn fool from shooting a tire. A bigger damn fool was on the stick but managed a safe landing with no further damage.

These pictures are circa 1967-68. Recently started converting slides to digital. Need better equipment/software than the $35 gizmo off Craigslist but it is a start and a learning process.