Trapeze artist doctor crashes plane in dangerous joyride, killing him and his 3-year-old daughter
A quirky Colorado doctor who moonlighted as a circus trapeze artist died alongside his 3-year-old daughter when he crashed his plane on a dangerous joyride, according to officials.Aaron Gingrich, a professor in emergency medicine at the University of Colorado Anschutz, took his daughter Isabella on an erratic three-hour trip on his single-engine aircraft when it crashed in the Rocky Mountains late Oct.4, according to the National Transit Safety Board’s preliminary report.The 43-year-old dad — who also performs with circus group Apesanteur Trapèze Volant — was flying erratically around northern Colorado for almost three hours, reaching heights of more than 15,000 feet and as low as 7,375 feet above sea level just two minutes before it crashed.Gingrich, who once ran a ketamine treatment clinic, finally crashed in mountainous terrain at about 7,360 feet near Eldorado Springs, where his and his daughter’s bodies were found in the wreckage.There was no controller in the tower when he took off from Vance Brand Airport in Longmont, and another pilot scolded Gingrich for his “dangerous takeoff,” audio recordings obtained by KDVR show“Hey Two Gulf Lima, thanks so much for cutting us off in the traffic pattern.
Appreciate it,” the pilot said sarcastically.“We also have someone up uh upwind 2-9 who’s being really dangerous and put us off in pattern.So we’re just getting out of here,” the pilot said.The recording didn’t indicate whether Gingrich had used his radio.The cause of the crash or why Gingrich was flying in so erratically remains under investigation.First responders first learned about the crash at 9:42 p.m.
from an alert from the U.S.Air Force Rescue Coordination Center, the Denver Post reported.The wreck was discovered just after 10 a.m.
the next day about 4 miles from Mountain View Fire Rescue Station Nine, where elevations in the area are roughly between 6,500 and 7,500 feet, according to the paper.The airplane crashed into rising ter...