The plane that hit the Idaho potato processing plant was piloted by a 30 year old female, experienced pilot. There was no fire, and very little damage to the plant. She got crossed up by the wind trying to land at the Burley ID airport. Missed the approach on 1st attempt, struck the building on the 2nd attempt.
Sounds like she or anyone else shouldn’t have been out in a small plane if there were gusty winds like that.
The pilot, a great young lady, is from my town. Very sad here this weekend.
She was a VERY experienced pilot...many certificates for various aircraft and a back country pilot. She was flying on contract with UPS and had flown this same route many times.
The Burley airport is known for being a hazard as the potato processing plant stack she hit apparently produces a lot of steam and on approach limits visibility.
There have been many complaints to relocate the Burley airport...maybe now, sadly, the effort will be taken seriously.
RIP Chelsea, you will be missed.