Two dead, four injured in plane crash during Colorado snowstorm
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A father of three and his children were recovering Monday after their private plane crashed just short of the runway at a small airport in Colorado, killing the pilot and the children's mother.
The crash occurred during a heavy snowstorm about 3:40pm local time Sunday at Yampa Valley Regional Airport in Hayden, 181 miles northwest of Denver, The Denver Post reported.
Gaby Humpal was killed in the crash. Her husband Scott Humpal, their two sons, aged 12 and 18, and their 11-year-old daughter, Sara, were injured. The pilot, who also died, has not yet been identified.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sara, a star tennis player in the Humpals' hometown of Corpus Christi, Texas, underwent surgery to fix two fractures in her leg, her father Scott said in a Facebook post.
He said her collapsed lungs have re-inflated and that she suffered a subdural hematoma, a lacerated kidney and liver, a broken collar bone and an "unstable fracture" of one of her vertebrae.
She will have surgery on her back in Denver.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Scott Humpal said his son Dillon has a lumbar compression fracture and "some cervical instability." His other son Tad was experiencing pain in his ankle and back, according to the Facebook post.
Humpal said he is suffering from back, neck and rib pain as well as a sprained ankle and a broken ankle.
"Our family was in a plane accident today in steamboat, colorado....my wife and our pilot passed away," Scott Humpal wrote on Facebook shortly after the crash. "We are devastated....my wife was a woman of God and I am sure that jesus welcomed her into heaven with open arms..."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He added, "...the boys and I have several injuries but will recover.....Sara has some very serious injuries.....please pray for her!!"
The twin-engine Cessna 414 crashed about 300 yards from the airport's fire station but remained upright and did not catch on fire, Tyler Whitmore, the airport's public-safety director, told The Denver Post.
Airport manager David Ruppel said it was not known if poor visibility during the snowstorm caused the pilot to attempt to land the plane short of the runway.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board were expected at the crash site Monday.