Children killed in US plane crash

23/03/2009| IslamWeb

A small plane has crashed in the US state of Montana, killing 17 people, including several children, according to the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Mike Fergus, an FAA spokesman, said the single-engine turboprop Pilatus PC-12 crashed about 150 meters from the airport in Butte, Montana, while trying to land on Sunday.

Fergus said initial reports showed that there were a number of children on board the plane.

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

He said the aircraft had departed from Oroville, California, on a scheduled flight to Bozeman but the pilot had cancelled his flight plan at some point and headed for Butte.

The National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA will be investigating the crash, added Fergus.

The local Montana Standard newspaper, citing witnesses' accounts in an online story, said the plane crashed into a cemetery.

Martha Guidoni, who was at a petrol station across from the cemetery, said the plane "just nose-dived into the ground".

PHOTO CAPTION

Investigators and local police investigate the scene of fatal plane crash outside the Butte Airport in Butte, Mont., on Sunday, March 22, 2009.

Al-Jazeera