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Montana Plane Crash--kills 17

Faster horses

Well-known member
BUTTE, Mont. – A small plane crashed Sunday as it approached an airport in Montana, killing 17 people, including several children, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said.

The single engine turboprop plane crashed about 500 feet from the airport in Butte while attempting to land, said spokesman Mike Fergus. The Montana Standard reported in an online story that it crashed in Butte's Holy Cross Cemetery.

The aircraft had departed from Oroville, Calif., and the pilot had filed a flight plan showing a destination of Bozeman, about 85 miles southeast of Butte. But the pilot canceled his flight plan at some point and headed for Butte, Fergus said.

Preliminary reports indicate the dead include numerous children, he said. There were no known fatalities on the ground, he added.

"We think that it was probably a ski trip for the kids," Fergus said.

The plane was registered to Eagle Cap Leasing Inc. in Enterprise, Ore., Fergus said. He didn't know who was operating the plane.

Calls to local authorities were not immediately returned.

Witnesses told the Standard that they saw the plane go into a nosedive into the cemetery.

Martha and Steve Guidoni, who were at a gas station across from the cemetery, said the plane "just nose-dived into the ground."

"My husband went over there to see if he could do anything," Martha Guidoni said.

Fergus said the Pilatus PC-12 aircraft was manufactured in 2001.

National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Keith Holloway said its investigators were expected to arrive in Butte late Sunday or early Monday.

The incident was the country's third major plane crash this year. All 155 people onboard survived after a US Airways jetliner landed in New York's Hudson River in January when a flock of geese disabled both engines, and a commuter plane fell on a house in a suburb of Buffalo, N.Y., killing all 49 passengers and a man in the home in February.
 
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Anonymous

Guest
Thats sad....
Having flown into Butte/Anaconda Airport several times - that is not a nice place to be- especially if the weather is bad...If I remember right- big power lines on both ends of the runway- and another one of those airports that after you come over the mountains you have to spiral your way down into- or spiral your way up out of when on the way back...
 
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Anonymous

Guest
CNN is reporting that early speculation is that the plane may have been overloaded... 17 occupants (many of which were kids) on a 9 seater plane thats designed for 9 passengers and 2 pilots- 11 in total...
 

hopalong

Well-known member
The Pilatus PC-12 is a single-engine turboprop aircraft designed and manufactured by Pilatus Aircraft of Switzerland. It is certified for 12 persons on board and typically seats 6-9 passengers plus 1-2 pilots. The PC-12 has a range of 1,750-2,600 miles and cruises at approximately 300 miles per hour, according to Flight Aware, a Web site that tracks air traffic.

oldtimer is correct I have flown into that airport, it is unlit at least one unlit stack of some sort, a couple of pipe lines and a few tall trees that make you have to increase your attack angle quickly on the approach,
not sure which runway are affected anymore as haven't flown in there for a couple of yrs.

Very very tragic and there is no excuse for overloading an aircraft.
 
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