Posted on 03/22/2009 4:13:39 PM PDT by Jet Jaguar
BUTTE, Mont. (AP) - A Federal Aviation Administration spokesman says 17 people are dead in a plane crash in Montana. Spokesman Mike Fergus says the single engine turboprop plane departed from Orville, Calif., and that the pilot had filed a flight plan showing a final destination of Bozeman.
Fergus says the pilot canceled his flight plan at some point and headed for Butte. The plane crashed about 500 feet from the airport while attempting to land and caught fire.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
My company operates 5 Pilatus PC-12s. They are excellent aircraft, powered by the most reliable engine in operation - the Pratt & Whitney PT6. The plane is not capable of holding 17 pax. There are some commuter configs operating in Canada but still don’t hold that many people. FWIW, I don’t believe there has ever been a single engine turbine powered airplane fatality due to engine failure.
I think the initial report may have been in error. Way too many pax for that aircraft.
And Whorealdo has Dr. Bob Arnot commenting on this as an expert. He’s a medical doctor. Sheesh!
I am NE of Butte in the mountaneous area. Don’t have much snow yet but it is to move in later tonight. The main problem, is wind. We are 35 degrees now down from a high of 50 mdegrees. Springtime in Montana!! I love it.
Isn’t the Pilatus known for STOL and good low speed behaviour ?
Maybe I’m thinking of another model.
Yes
I'm not familiar with the flying characteristics of the plane.
But any plane will stall and spin if you make a steep turn at too low a speed.
Word from my mom who lives in Butte. What fox has been putting out is relatively accurate. Local paper website is
The weather is clear. Butte is in a high mountain valley (1 mile above sea level) and can be tricky if there was in-flight trouble.
thanks for the link.
50 degrees! Wow. Not bad. Not bad at all. I remember at least one Easter dressing in my Easter finest—dress, shiney shoes, girlie gloves and pastel colored Easter hat and trudging to church in foot high piles of snow! LOL. Springtime in Montana. Never boring :-).
As do I. Hometown. My dad called me to tell me about the crash today.
Pretty Cold
IIRC, he's a very experienced pilot. He was flying in the same area at the time JFK jr crashed.
I recall that Dr. Arnot also is a pilot. He commented on JFK, Jr.’s crash because he had flown himself to Martha’s Vineyard around the same timeframe.
There’s even a BBC video there...Montana plane crash kills 17.
“He’s a medical doctor. Sheesh!”
Just behind lawyers as the most crash prone pilots!
Plemnty of money to buy fast complex aircraft and no time to keep current!
Fox News is reporting this morning that 14 of the dead may be all from one family.
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