Plane Crash Victims Were on a Business Trip : Accident: The O.C. survivors were en route to Virginia when the aircraft went down in Colorado, killing their boss.

Three Orange County men who survived the Tuesday crash in Colorado of a single-engine plane in which their boss died were on a business trip to refurbish generators aboard a Navy ship in Virginia.

Killed in the accident was Steven P. Trevor, 37, of Newport Beach, the plane’s pilot. He died of head injuries when the Cessna 210 plowed into a snowy field on a cattle ranch about 30 miles south of Denver, authorities said. The plane apparently ran out of gas while trying to reach the airport in Larkspur, two miles from the crash site, they said.

Trevor, who was an active UC Irvine alumnus, owned Trevor Chemicals and Engineering of Costa Mesa, which did on-site servicing of motors and generators across the country. Co-workers said Trevor bought the single-engine Cessna two months ago to make it easier to serve clients.

The three men hurt in the crash were Trevor employees--technicians Dana Smith, 29, of Santa Ana, Kurt Hillman, 24, of Anaheim and project manager Randy Villadore, 24, of Santa Ana. All were recovering from multiple injuries Wednesday at Denver’s Swedish Hospital.

Describing the ordeal from his hospital bed, Villadore, a graduate of Carson High School in Los Angeles, said he slept for most of the flight and woke up moments before the crash to find the plane in a cloud bank.

“I heard Steve say we had zero visibility and couldn’t see,” Villadore said. “I didn’t think we were in big trouble because Steve had contact with the air traffic controller. When I saw the ground, I knew something was wrong.”

He could still hear the engine as the plane made a slow descent. “It looked like we were circling the field to find a good place to land. It was cloudy and snowy,” he said.

After impact, Villadore said he and Hillman climbed out of their seats. Villadore said he then dialed 911 from a cellular phone on board and reported: “We’ve crashed and I don’t know where we are.”

Trevor was dead, but Smith--who sat in the co-pilot’s seat--was still strapped in and “was alive and breathing,” but unconscious.

Douglas County Sheriff’s Sgt. Brock McCoy, first to arrive at the crash site, said the plane’s fuel tanks appeared to be dry. He said one of the survivors recalled hearing someone say “we’re out of gas” just before the crash.

“I found Villadore sitting on a wing, talking on a cellular phone,” McCoy said. After determining that Trevor was dead, McCoy said he walked to the other side of the aircraft and found Hillman sitting on the other wing. “I’m glad to see you,” Hillman told him.

Trevor was a Corona del Mar High School gymnast, a former stuntman and a 1979 UC Irvine graduate in social ecology. He and his wife, Jamie, were active boosters of UC Irvine men’s basketball. They held season tickets and helped raise funds, UCI officials said.

Jamie Trevor--a spokeswoman for Allergan Inc. in Irvine and an Irvine Chamber of Commerce executive--on Wednesday established a scholarship fund in her husband’s memory to benefit the basketball program.

Steven Trevor had recently offered to fly men’s basketball coach Rod Baker around the country to help Baker’s recruiting efforts.

“He wanted to help out wherever he could,” said Mike Tracey, an assistant athletic director at UCI.

At Trevor’s company in Costa Mesa on Wednesday, employees were saddened and found it difficult to discuss the tragedy. “We’ve lost a close friend,” said Debra Traub, a training coordinator. “We think he’s going to walk in any minute. Maybe he’s still in a staff meeting.”

On Monday, Traub said, Trevor stood up during a staff meeting with tears in his eyes. “He said this was the first time he could count on everybody to get the job done. There were no slackers, no laggers,” she recalled.

The flight originated Tuesday morning at John Wayne Airport, with Trevor expecting to reach Denver for lunch and refueling, officials said. National Transportation Safety Board investigators were at the crash scene Wednesday and could not be reached for comment.

Trevor had an unblemished safety record, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, and the plane had not been involved in any accidents.

When he began his business in 1986, Trevor was a pioneer in the field of refurbishing and maintaining rotating electrical equipment on site, associates said. He hired Villadore in 1990, and Smith and Hillman within the past year. Smith was an electrical contractor before coming to Trevor. Hillman was an electrician. Villadore installed car alarms and stereos and is still doing so on the side.

Memorial services for Trevor will be at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at Big Corona State Beach in Corona del Mar.

Jamie Trevor asked that in lieu of flowers contributions be made to the Steve Trevor Memorial Endowment Scholarship Fund at UC Irvine. Contributions should be sent in care of the UCI Athletic Foundation, Crawford Hall, UC Irvine, Irvine, Calif. 92717.

Times staff writer Robyn Norwood contributed to this report.