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Tragedy of ski trip children as plane crashes into cemetery
Ed Harris23 Mar 2009
SEVEN children and seven adults were killed today when a small plane crashed and burst into flames as it approached an airport in the state of Montana. It is believed they were on their way to a ski trip.
The single engine turbo-prop nose-dived into a cemetery next to Bert Mooney Airport, near the Rocky Mountains outside the city of Butte, killing everyone on board.
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Mike Fergus said: "We think it was probably a ski trip for the kids." Kristi Dunks, an investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, said it was not yet possible to say what caused the crash.
The aircraft had taken off from Oroville, California, and the pilot had filed a flight plan showing a destination of Bozeman, about 85 miles south-east of Butte. But he cancelled his plan at some point and headed for Butte, Mr Fergus said.
It was not clear whether there had been a distress call from the pilot before witnesses saw the plane wobble in the air then plunge to the ground.
Nick Dipasquale, 19, who was working at a petrol station near the cemetery, said he ran outside to see flames as tall as the trees. Steve Guidoni, 61, from Butte, said the plane had smashed into small pieces.
He said: "It smelled like diesel fuel to me. There was nothing left of it. It just went straight into the ground. You wouldn't even know a plane was there." He said he saw luggage and seat cushions lying around, but no bodies. In California, Tom Hagler said he saw a group of children and adults preparing to board a plane at the Oroville municipal airport, about 70 miles north of Sacramento.
Mr Hagler, owner of an aviation firm, let the children, ranging in age from six to 10, into his building to use the lavatory. He said: "There were a lot of kids in the group. A lot of really cute kids." There was some confusion about how many people were on board as it was also reported a family of five from California, including three small children, were among the victims.
Les Dorr, from the Federal Aviation Administration, said the plane normally carried nine or 10 people but the flight might have been legally configured to carry more.
