A Colorado emergency medicine professor who also performed as a circus trapeze artist was killed with his 3-year-old daughter when their small plane crashed during an erratic flight, authorities said.
Aaron Gingrich, an emergency medicine professor at the University of Colorado Anschutz, had taken his daughter, Isabella, on a roughly three-hour flight in his single-engine aircraft before it went down in the Rocky Mountains late Oct. 4, according to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board.
The 43-year-old father, who performed with Apesanteur Trapèze Volant, flew over northern Colorado at varying altitudes during the trip. The aircraft climbed above 15,000 feet before descending to about 7,375 feet above sea level just two minutes before the crash.
The plane ultimately struck mountainous terrain near Eldorado Springs at an elevation of approximately 7,360 feet. Gingrich and Isabella were found dead inside the wreckage. Gingrich had previously operated a ketamine treatment clinic.
No air traffic controller was on duty at the tower when Gingrich departed from Vance Brand Airport in Longmont. Audio obtained by KDVR captured another pilot criticizing what he described as a dangerous takeoff.
“Hey Two Gulf Lima, thanks so much for cutting us off in the traffic pattern. Appreciate it,” the pilot said sarcastically.
The pilot later added, “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 recording did not make clear whether Gingrich responded over the radio.
Investigators have not determined what caused the crash or why the flight followed such an unusual path.
Emergency crews were alerted to the incident at 9:42 p.m. through a notification from the U.S. Air Force Rescue Coordination Center, the Denver Post reported.
Search teams located the wreckage shortly after 10 a.m. the following day, about four miles from Mountain View Fire Rescue Station Nine. The surrounding area has elevations ranging from approximately 6,500 to 7,500 feet, according to the newspaper.
The NTSB said the aircraft hit rising ground roughly 300 feet below a ridgeline.
Gingrich, a Columbia University graduate, was a member of the University of Colorado Anschutz Department of Emergency Medicine, the school confirmed.
An online profile reviewed by the Daily Mail said he earned his private pilot certificate in 2016. As an emergency physician, he had worked across five states and six countries, and in 2022 he opened a ketamine clinic in Texas.
Away from medicine and aviation, Gingrich performed with Apesanteur Trapèze Volant, a Switzerland-based flying trapeze troupe. The group’s leaders remembered him in an emotional tribute.
“Your positive energy, your kindness, your beautiful way of sharing smiles, laughters and music will be remembered. Thank you, you will be deeply missed. We hope you’re flying and doing flips wherever you are now,” the group wrote in a social media post.
The tribute included photographs of Gingrich smiling as he performed aerial maneuvers high above the ground.
Relatives and friends created a GoFundMe campaign to help Isabella’s mother, Lauren Willcox, as she mourns the loss of her daughter.
The fundraising page was established to provide support for Willcox following the fatal Colorado plane crash.
“There are no words for the loss of sweet Bella, who was only three years old,” the campaign page said.
“Our hearts are broken for Lauren as she faces the unimaginable pain of losing her little girl.”
