A mid-air collision over Colorado has resulted in the deaths of three people on Saturday, according to authorities. The crash occurred around 8:50 a.m. near the Vance Brand Airport in Longmont, Colorado. One of the planes was a single-engine Cessna 172, otherwise known as a Skyhawk, that had two people onboard, identified by the Federal Aviation Administration, while the other aircraft was reportedly a Sonex Xenos, according to a tweet by the National Transportation Safety Board. The Skyhawk is one of the most popular aircrafts in history, according to the company, and is commonly used in training new pilots. Authorities have not yet identified the three people who died in the crash, police said. Midair collisions are extremely uncommon, but data from the Air Safety Foundation suggests that nearly half of all mid-air collisions happen while the planes are in a traffic pattern around the airport. A federal investigation into the root of the accident is currently underway, according to the Boulder County Sheriff’s Department.
