An Alabama pilot and his two daughters were killed when their twin-engine aircraft crashed Friday in the rugged Bob Marshall Wilderness of northwestern Montana, authorities confirmed. The Powell County Sheriff’s Office reported it received an alert of “a possible downed aircraft” Friday afternoon, with search crews locating the wreckage the next morning in a heavily wooded area.
The family, including Mark Anderson, 62, along with his daughters, Lainey, 22, and Ellie, 17, had been en route to Polson, Montana, when their Piper Aztec reportedly developed engine trouble shortly before the crash, which occurred at about 4:30 p.m. on Friday.
According to a statement from the Sheriff’s Office, controllers lost radar contact with the aircraft over the Bob Marshall Wilderness, which is larger than Rhode Island. Search-and-rescue resources were deployed from Malmstrom Air Force Base before a volunteer with the Montana Department of Transportation Aeronautics division finally located the wreckage on Saturday morning.
Both Mark Anderson and Lainey Anderson were pilots. Lainey Anderson had recently earned her CFI and was a graduate of Auburn University’s Professional Flight program.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board have taken over the investigation.
I know its for comparisons sale, but mentioning that the forest is bigger than Rhode Island…. Most everything is bigger than that!