A 22-year-old aspiring airline pilot with an “intense love and passion for flying” was killed in a small plane crash in Colorado a month after landing a gig as a commercial pilot.

Niles Tilenius, 22, was among two people aboard an ultra-light JMB Aircraft that tragically crashed near Erie Municipal Airport runway, about 25 miles outside of Denver, at around 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 19, Denver 7 reported.

Tilenius was flying the small plane with 21-year-old student pilot William Johnston when it went down, killing them both.

The small plane was making its fifth touch-and-go landing when it suddenly plunged nose-first into a grassy patch beside the Erie runway, according to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board.

A witness told investigators they saw the plane tumb

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