NHS student in fatal plane crash

A small plane crashed last Wednesday, June 15 in Creede, Colorado, killing the three people on board, including 17-year-old Niwot High School student David Louwers, of Longmont.

The Cessna 320 plane, which was owned by Rocky Mountain Aerial Surveys of Longmont, went down Wednesday afternoon near the single-runway airport by the small mining town.

According to the Associated Press, Mineral County coroner Charles Downing said a witness report stated the plane seemed to be having engine troubles and appeared to try to land at the airport. The plane crashed less than a mile from the runway in a small gully near the Rio Grande River.

On board were 51-year-old pilot Jere (Jerry) Ferrill of Castle Rock, 29-year-old Mykhayl Sutton of Longmont, and Louwers.

Louwers just finished his junior year at NHS and was a member of the Cougar football team, where he played on the offensive and defensive line.

NHS football Head Coach, Dylan Hollingsworth, described Louwers as a hard worker with a potential college football career.

”It’s a tragic loss,” Hollingsworth said. “It’s not something that you’re prepared to deal with and not something that you spend a lot of time thinking about how to deal with. David did a wonderful job with dedicating himself to becoming a better football player over the last year. He put a lot of time into the weight room and became a vocal leader. He was also one of the lighthearted kids on the team.”

”It’s tough to move forward from these things,” Hollingsworth continued. “You don’t replace David. We don’t just move on to the next person. It’s so much more than that... Our job is to try to put the pieces back together so we don’t move on, but move forward.

Niwot Cougar assistant football coach Mike Veeder posted his sentiments about Louwers on Facebook saying, “Cougar Nation has lost one of its best and brightest.”

Hollingsworth said the football team is banding together and will get through their loss as a family would get through any tragedy it faces.

”Its a loss that’s going to be felt on many levels,” Hollingsworth explained. “We met with players already and coaching staff, and got counseling support from district. It gave kids an opportunity to talk about it and be together, I think that’s really important. Regardless of anything else, we’re a family and we’ll get through this.”

An employee of Rocky Mountain Aerial Surveys said the company is “still trying to figure out what happened and will be investigating the accident further.”

Niwot High School held a candlelight vigil on Friday, June 17 at 8:30 p.m. Funeral services were held Sunday, June 19 at St. Luke Orthodox Church in Erie.