14 killed in Montana plane crash

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The Pilatus PC-12 burst into flames on impact in Butte, Montana, but no-one on the ground was hurt.

The plane's stated capacity is 12 adults.

It is not known whether having extra people on board was a factor in the crash, since seven of the victims were children.

Eyewitness Kenny Gulick, 14, said he thought he was watching a stunt plane because the pilot was making so many turns before the crash on Sunday.

"He jerked the plane to the left too quickly and lost control of it, but that's just my guess," he said. "And all of a sudden it went into a nosedive. I noticed the pilot trying to pull up but he was extremely low to the ground and he didn't pull up in time."

Experts are still trying to determine the cause of the crash. Kristi Dunks of the National Transportation Safety Board would not say if there had been a distress call from the pilot. It was partly cloudy, the visibility was 10 miles and winds were around 10 mph at the time.

One report said a family of five from St Helena, California, was among the victims.

The aircraft had departed from Oroville, California, and the pilot had filed a flight plan showing a destination of Bozeman, about 85 miles south-east of Butte. But the pilot cancelled his flight plan in the air and headed for Butte.

The plane was registered to Eagle Cap Leasing in Oregon. No-one at the company was available for comment.