Three people died in a small plane crash just outside the ski resort town of Telluride in southwestern Colorado on Sunday.

According to the San Miguel County Sheriffls office, the victims were all pilots from Arizona.

Sherry Anderson, 57, and Sherman Anderson, 64, were both commercial airplane pilots and hailed from Phoenix. Eric Durban, 48, of Mexa Ariz., was a former military pilot, the release said.

The private, single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza took off from Telluride Regional Airport at 11:20 a.m. Sunday in light snow on its way to Cortez, a city in southwest Colorado about 75 miles away, San Miguel County Sheriff Bill Masters said in a statement.

“This is certainly not the outcome we were hoping for. It’s just a terrible, terrible tragedy,” Masters said.

Photo of crashed private plane west of Telluride pic.twitter.com/Si8KENbjFb

— Sheriff Bill Masters (@sheriffmasters) February 17, 2014

Deputies and the Civil Air Patrol found the wreckage in a cliff band about a mile west of the airport six hours later.

Visibility was about one mile and winds were calm at the time of the crash, said Masters.

The Andersons are survived by a daughter. Durban is survived by a wife and two children.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is investigating the cause of the crash.

Image via Sheriff Bill Masters, Twitter