The Independent Voice of Southern Methodist University Since 1915

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The Daily Campus

The Independent Voice of Southern Methodist University Since 1915

The Daily Campus

The Independent Voice of Southern Methodist University Since 1915

The Daily Campus

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SMU student among dead in Colorado plane crash

One of the four people believed to have been killed when a single-engine plane crashed high on the slopes of 14,017-foot Wilson Peak in southwestern Colorado was an SMU MBA student.

Mark Cochran, 27, was the pilot of the plane that crashed Friday, Sept. 15. He was scheduled to graduate in December with an MBA from the Cox School of Business. Cochran received his undergraduate degree from SMU in mechanical engineering in 2001.

Arrangements are still pending and SMU officials declined comment at this time.

Authorities originally said three people were killed when the four-seat Beechcraft C33 Debonair crashed on Friday, but San Miguel County Coroner Bob Dempsey said evidence including travel documents and family statements led him to conclude four people were aboard.

The sheriff’s office said there were no survivors.

Dempsey said the victims were presumed to be, of Dallas, the pilot, and passengers Brendan Culbert, 25, of Bellaire, Texas, Kristin Kirkley, 26, of Dallas and James Flanagin, 25, of Houston.

The plane was en route from Addison, Texas, to Telluride for a music festival, officials said. The Civil Air Patrol launched a search Saturday when it was reported overdue, and searchers in a helicopter spotted the wreckage Sunday morning on Wilson Peak, about 10 miles southwest of this resort town and about 200 miles southwest of Denver.

Rock falls, ice and snow and the steep terrain made the recovery difficult, authorities said.

The plane had been leased to the RFC Dallas flying club, said the plane’s owner, John Thompson of Dallas.

Civil Air Patrol 1st Lt. Mark Young said no flight plan had been filed, which hampered the search effort.

– The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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