Costas John Sivyllis, 30, and Lindsey Vogelaar, 33, died Monday after their private plane crashed into the San Juan Mountains in Colorado
The couple were traveling home to Florida after they eloped for a mountain-top wedding just four days before
Their single-engine plane crashed 15 minutes after their take-off from Telleride Airport on Monday afternoon
Sivyllis was a United Airlines pilot and Vogelaar worked as a flight attendant
They had shared pictures in their wedding dress and suit while in their plane in the days leading up to the crash
Sivyllis had said it was his lifelong dream to be a pilot
The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Authority are investigating the cause of the crash
A United Airlines pilot and his wife died on Monday only four days after their wedding when their private plane crashed in Colorado.
The bodies of Costas John Sivyllis, 30, and Lindsey Vogelaar, 33, were recovered from the crash site in Ingram Basin in the San Juan Mountains that evening.
The couple, from Port Orange, Florida, had eloped to Colorado for a small, mountain-top wedding on October 1, and were traveling back home when their plane crashed about 15 minutes after take-off.
They had been documenting their elopement and honeymoon online for friends and family, showing off their ‘just married plane’ and taking their first flight together as a married couple in the days leading up to the crash.
The United Airlines pilot and his flight attendant wife were traveling home to Florida. They are pictured here in their wedding dress and suit earlier this week in a picture posted to Facebook
San Miguel County Sheriff’s Office learned of the crash after the plane departed from Telleride Airport at around 12.45pm. The couple had planned to stop to refuel in Oklahoma.
They were the only people on the single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza plane.
Deputies and rescue crews began high-altitude, low-level helicopter operations on Monday evening but it soon became a recovery mission after they determined that the newlyweds had been killed in the crash, according to
Their bodies were finally recovered at around 6.25pm Monday.
Their private plane crashed into the San Juan Mountains in Colorado on Monday
‘Sheriff Masters extended his personal condolences, and those of the entire rescue team, to the victims families,’ San Miguel County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
Family and friends mourned the couple’s death on social media Tuesday as they shared pictures from their wedding just days before.
‘As many of you know, my beautiful sister, best friend, and the most gorgeous bride passed away yesterday with her handsome, most cheerful, husband in a plane crash,’ Vogelaar’s sister Courtney wrote on Facebook.
‘They were married for four days, and they loved each other with all of their heart and soul. They loved life and lived it to the fullest.
‘Our hearts are aching more than I can ever explain,’ she added. ‘Thank you to everyone that has been reaching out, it is a lot to process.’
Sivyllis was a flight instructor as well as a pilot and Vogelaar also worked as a flight attendant. The last pictures on both their Facebook pages show plane views from their work.
The couple met in an airport during a layover in Birmingham, England, according to friend, saying that he remembers the moment Vogelaar met her future husband and how it changed her forever.
‘She was incredibly intelligent, multilingual. Cute as hell and so much fun to have a drink with,’ co-worker Steven Charles Lloyd wrote of her.
‘Costas was the best kind of guy you’d ever want to meet. He possessed all the talent and swagger imaginable to become one of the best Captains ever. He loved his job as a 1st officer on the 757 so much,’ he added.
Sivyllis graduated from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona in 2012, according to WESH 2.
‘Our hearts are heavy. Yesterday, we tragically lost our good friend, Embry-Riddle Eagle, Industry Advisory Board member, and amazing aviator Costas Sivyllis. He was loved by all who knew him and he will be greatly missed,’ said Alan Stolzer, the dean of the college.
Sivyllis had written about his work as a mainline pilot in a blog post for the Air Line Pilots Association.
He said that being a pilot had been his lifelong dream and that flying over the Atlantic Ocean at night always reminded him of that.
‘It’s a peaceful calm — a sight I relished traveling as a kid overseas to see family, an annual journey that made me fall in love with flying,’ he wrote, according to Please
‘I take a moment to think about how I dreamt of this for years. Yet now, it’s a reality as I sit back and monitor the flight instruments and chat casually with the other pilot about our schedule for next month.’
The National Transportation Safety Board confirmed they are investigating the crash.
