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Seven children and seven adults died in a plane crash Sunday in Butte, Montana, according to the FAA. The single-engine Pilatus PC 12 was headed to Bozeman, Montana, but was rerouted to Butte instead, said Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Mike Fergus. The plane crashed 500 feet short of the runway at Bert Mooney Airport.
The National Transportation Safety Board is sending an investigation team to the scene, Kristi Dunks, an aerosafety investigator with the agency, told reporters in Butte late Sunday. Dunks said the plane crashed at the Holy Cross Cemetery, just south of Runway 3 at the airport. No one was injured on the ground, Sheriff John Walsh said.
Martha Guidoni told CNN that she and her husband witnessed the plane crash. She photographed one of the first images from the scene, which showed the cemetery in the foreground of a huge blaze. The flight plan originated in Redlands, California, according to flight-tracking site FBOweb.com. Stops were made in Vacaville and Oroville, California, before the plane headed for Montana. The plane stopped at the Oroville airport about 11 a.m. (2 p.m. ET), refueled and departed about half an hour later, said Police Chief Kirk Trostle.
There were conflicting reports about ownership of the plane, manufactured in 2001.
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