At least 17 people have been killed in a plane crash in Montana in the US, according to a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman.
The single-engine aircraft reportedly came down in the Holy Cross Cemetery near Bert Mooney Airport after leaving California.
Spokesman Mike Fergus said the plane’s pilot had filed a flight plan showing Bozeman as his destination.
But at some point the pilot cancelled his flight plan and headed for Butte instead, said Mr Fergus.
He said the dead include numerous children.
Officials confirmed there are fatalities but said it is too early to tell how many people have died.
Witnesses reported seeing a huge fireball in the sky after the plane crashed.
More follows…
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Plane crash in Montana kills 17 people
Updated Sun. Mar. 22 2009 7:24 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
U.S. officials say that 17 people died, including several children, after a plane crashed into a cemetery in central Montana Sunday afternoon.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said the crash occurred in the town of Butte around 2:30 p.m.
The Pilatus PC12 was heading from Oroville, Calif., to Bozeman, Mont., when the pilot suddenly cancelled the flight plan and headed for nearby Butte.
An eyewitness told the Montana Standard newspaper that the plane went into a nosedive after attempting a steep angle turn.
The plane crash occurred about 150 metres from the airport’s landing strip and burst into flames, according to the FAA’s Mike Fergus.
“We think that it was probably a ski trip for the kids,” Fergus said, adding that there were no known fatalities on the ground.
Two witnesses, Martha and Steve Guidoni, were near the cemetery when the plane went down.
“We had just came out of the gas station, across from the cemetery, and watched it crashed. It just nose-dived into the ground,” Martha Guidoni told the Montana Standard.
“My husband went over there to see if he could do anything.”
My heart goes out to all involved RIP
Rick
By: J Boyle - 2nd April 2009 at 17:40
….they’re reporting something that trivial!!!
Probably not if it’s one of your loved ones!
Aside from the crash investigation, hopefully they can repair any damage and make sure the people buried get the correct names put above them.
A recent news report says the NTSB is having a hard time figuring this one out.
BTW: back in the 50s there was a Northwest airlines crash in a cemetary…
By: skycruiser - 30th March 2009 at 08:08
Fourteen people lost their lives in that crash including children and they’re reporting something that trivial!!!
That’s the state of the gutter press nowadays Steve, pathetic if you ask me.
Sky news has to be one of the worst. The last few weeks of their reporting on their web site has been unbelievably pointless.
By: steve rowell - 30th March 2009 at 05:07
Fifteen headstones were damaged in the crash. Interesting that the report comes from KPAX!
Fourteen people lost their lives in that crash including children and they’re reporting something that trivial!!!
By: Newforest - 29th March 2009 at 12:13
Fifteen headstones were damaged in the crash. Interesting that the report comes from KPAX!
By: PhantomII - 26th March 2009 at 06:14
How many children were crashed in planes last year, and how many children were crashed in cars?
How many parents take their children in a car to get home or wherever they want to get in iffy weat
That’s not the point. There point here is that a potential risk was taken with overloading an airplane. If the cause of the crash was determined to be due to this then obviously it was a horrible decision.
Even if the cause of the crash has nothing to do with this, the fact that so many people were put on the plane means that at least 3 (if the 14 number was correct) people who died shouldn’t have because they should have been on another airplane or another mode of transportation to get there….
By: Skymonster - 26th March 2009 at 05:46
Anybody that takes risk where kids are concerned want stringing up IMO.
Anyone who takes ANY risks when flying is involved is beyond my comprehension. I have a PPL and own [part of] an aeroplane, and the concept of overloading it or knowingly busting the flying regs in any other way just is… beyond my comprehension. How anyone can get themselves into that sort of mess, I don’t know!
Andy
By: steve rowell - 25th March 2009 at 23:48
It’s always sad when there is young children involved no matter what type of accident…i feel sorry for the investigators and emergency people who are confronted by such horrific scenes!!!
By: chornedsnorkack - 25th March 2009 at 21:12
Anybody that takes risk where kids are concerned want stringing up IMO. Always chokes me up when things like this involve innocent kids, can’t imagine what it would be like for them, having 3 young kids of my own, it’s horrable.
How many children were crashed in planes last year, and how many children were crashed in cars?
How many parents take their children in a car to get home or wherever they want to get in iffy weather?
By: JetSet - 25th March 2009 at 20:55
Investigators will be checking the engine performance indicator and also telephone records if they can get hold of them to try and determine the reason for the diversion.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/25/us/25crash.html?_r=1&ref=us
Anybody that takes risk where kids are concerned want stringing up IMO. Always chokes me up when things like this involve innocent kids, can’t imagine what it would be like for them, having 3 young kids of my own, it’s horrable.
God bless their souls
R.I.P
By: Newforest - 25th March 2009 at 10:54
Investigators will be checking the engine performance indicator and also telephone records if they can get hold of them to try and determine the reason for the diversion.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/25/us/25crash.html?_r=1&ref=us
By: PhantomII - 24th March 2009 at 22:10
Whether you can squeeze in an extra few smaller folks (young kids in this case) isn’t the issue. The bottom line is that there were too many people on that plane and whatever the reason for the accident, the lives of some innocent children (& adults) were cut tragically short. More responsibility should’ve been taken in travel arrangements it seems (though I’ll hold off on that judgement until the final results of the NTSB investigation come out).
May they all RIP.
By: chornedsnorkack - 24th March 2009 at 17:38
One of the 14 souls was 1 year old, who can perfectly legitimately be held in lap with no sort of restraint.
The other children were two 3 year olds, 4, 5, 7 and 9. So, the plane was overloaded with the two 3 year olds.
Note that while both airliners and private planes require separate seats for 2 year olds, plenty of buses and trains do not, and allow rather bigger children to sit in the lap of an adult without a ticket.
By: hendriksf260 - 24th March 2009 at 15:59
people, what ever the number of seat in the PC-12.
Remember half of them were childeren.
Take a look at your boys soccer game next Saterday.
How many boys, 10-12 years old, fit in your back seat of the car.
Take care next time you load your car with childeren and luggage
to take them to an out-game. Ad an extra 2-3 cars to transport
the team.
Lets hope the NTSB finds an answer to the cause of this accident.
May we learn from this accident.
R I P
Hendrik
By: PhantomII - 24th March 2009 at 15:42
The PC-12/45, PC-12/47 and even the new PC-12NG are all the same size in terms of dimensions.
The aircraft has a maximum capacity of 11, with 2 pilots and 9 passengers or 1 pilot and 10 passengers. In maximum density configuration the aircraft has 3 seats on the back row, plus one on each side for the three rows ahead of it. That is 9 in the rear cabin plus the 2 folks up front.
That listing for a 12 seat PC-12 is probably a custom job because Pilatus doesn’t offer a 12 seat configuration. The Pilot’s Information Manual has several configuration pictures, and the maximum number of people listed is 11.
How they got 14 on that aircraft I’d like to know……seems very dangerous to me.
By: Ren Frew - 24th March 2009 at 11:53
17 people in a 12 seat plane!!!!
Isn’t it asking for trouble?RIP little guys ….
They now suggest there were 14 passengers in a 12 seat configured PC-12. I presume this variant is not physically larger than the 8-9 seater, just more densely configured like in cattle class on a regular airliner ?
By: Hand87_5 - 24th March 2009 at 11:36
17 people in a 12 seat plane!!!!
Isn’t it asking for trouble?
RIP little guys ….
By: Newforest - 23rd March 2009 at 07:36
There is a PC-12 configured for twelve passengers.
http://www.planedesire.com/aircraft/desire/N167AR/details.html
By: Newforest - 23rd March 2009 at 07:28
Wiki report that it is a nine seat airliner but this thread should be in general aviation. It would seem certain that this plane should not have had such a large number of people on board, whatever their size.
https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Pilatus_PC-12
By: Newforest - 23rd March 2009 at 07:12
BBC report and photo, all on board killed.:(
By: steve rowell - 23rd March 2009 at 04:02
Children for goodness sake…God bless their souls
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March 22, 2009 at 11:55 pm