Seven children among 14 dead in Montana plane crash

[deskslave]

Not a commercial carrier, from the sounds of it.

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.
Fergus says preliminary reports indicate the dead include numerous children.
Fergus says the plane was registered to Eagle Cap Leasing Inc. in Enterprise, Ore., but he doesn't know who was operating the plane.
Calls to local authorities were not immediately returned.

 

[Bubbler]

Re: Numerous children among 17 dead in Montana plane crash

Damn. That's awful.

 

[zagoshe]

Re: Numerous children among 17 dead in Montana plane crash

That's terrible -- I am wondering if this was carrying some sort of team or something?

 

[sportschick]

Re: Numerous children among 17 dead in Montana plane crash

That's terrible -- I am wondering if this was carrying some sort of team or something?

This was my first thought. It's not common, but teams have been known to fly to games in that state.

 

[deskslave]

Re: Numerous children among 17 dead in Montana plane crash

AP update has an FAA spokesman saying they believe the kids were on a ski trip.

The plane was something called a Pilatus PC-12, which I've never heard of.

 

[old_tony]

Re: Numerous children among 17 dead in Montana plane crash

Not much of a report. Where there any survivors?

And I hate to ask, but would the crash be less tragic if it was 17 adults that died?

 

[RickStain]

Re: Numerous children among 17 dead in Montana plane crash

Not much of a report. Where there any survivors?

And I hate to ask, but would the crash be less tragic if it was 17 adults that died?

Yes.

 

[Tom Petty]

Re: Numerous children among 17 dead in Montana plane crash

Not much of a report. Where there any survivors?

And I hate to ask, but would the crash be less tragic if it was 17 adults that died?

are you kidding me?

 

[KevinmH9]

Re: Numerous children among 17 dead in Montana plane crash

Not much of a report. Where there any survivors?

And I hate to ask, but would the crash be less tragic if it was 17 adults that died?

are you kidding me?

Gotta agree with TP. Elderly, adults and children, it's all the same. It's a tragic story no matter how you turn it.

 

[old_tony]

Re: Numerous children among 17 dead in Montana plane crash

Not much of a report. Where there any survivors?

And I hate to ask, but would the crash be less tragic if it was 17 adults that died?

Yes.

Why? What if the adults were fathers and mothers of young children?

 

[farmerjerome]

Re: Numerous children among 17 dead in Montana plane crash

Stop. Stop right now. This is awful, no matter who is involved.

 

[OnTheRiver]

Re: Numerous children among 17 dead in Montana plane crash

Second what FJ said.

This sounds like a spring break trip. Prayers for the families, community and others...

 

[deskslave]

Re: Numerous children among 17 dead in Montana plane crash

Of course it's not much of a report. It's in friggin' Montana. Not exactly an area where the AP maintains a large bureau.

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

Re: Numerous children among 17 dead in Montana plane crash

It crashed into a cemetary? Seriously??

http://www.mtstandard.com/articles/2009/03/22/breaking/hjjajghhiagjjh.txt

 

[deskslave]

Re: Numerous children among 17 dead in Montana plane crash

In California, Tom Hagler said he saw a group of about a dozen children and four adults Sunday morning at the Oroville Municipal Airport, about 70 miles north of Sacramento.
Hagler, owner of Table Mountain Aviation, described the children as ranging from about 6- to 10 year olds. He let the children into his building to use the restroom.
"There were a lot of kids in the group," he said. "A lot of really cute kids."

 

[SportsGuyBCK]

Re: Numerous children among 17 dead in Montana plane crash

Even if most of the passengers were kids, 17 is way overloaded for this aircraft ...

From Wikipedia:

The Pilatus PC-12 is a single-engine turboprop passenger and cargo aircraft manufactured by Pilatus Aircraft of Switzerland. The main market for the aircraft is corporate transport and regional airliner operators.
As with many other Pilatus aircraft, the PC-12 is powered by a single Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-67B turboprop engine. It is certified for single-pilot IFR operations, though operators may choose to utilize a second flight crew member. The PC-12 is offered in standard nine-seat airliner form, in a four-passenger seat/freight Combi version, as a six-seat corporate transport, and as a seven-seat corporate transport with the inclusion of an aft three-seat bench. A pure freighter model is under consideration.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

Re: Numerous children among 17 dead in Montana plane crash

Even if most of the passengers were kids, 17 is way overloaded for this aircraft ...

From Wikipedia:

The Pilatus PC-12 is a single-engine turboprop passenger and cargo aircraft manufactured by Pilatus Aircraft of Switzerland. The main market for the aircraft is corporate transport and regional airliner operators.
As with many other Pilatus aircraft, the PC-12 is powered by a single Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-67B turboprop engine. It is certified for single-pilot IFR operations, though operators may choose to utilize a second flight crew member. The PC-12 is offered in standard nine-seat airliner form, in a four-passenger seat/freight Combi version, as a six-seat corporate transport, and as a seven-seat corporate transport with the inclusion of an aft three-seat bench. A pure freighter model is under consideration.

I'm not a pilot, but if you're under the weight limit for the plane then it shouldn't matter how many people you put in it, right?

 

[User 1019]

Re: Numerous children among 17 dead in Montana plane crash

As long as you have seatbelts and such, sure.

If the weight and balance (read: center of gravity) was off, the plane would've crashed seconds after takeoff.

 

[Simon_Cowbell]

Re: Numerous children among 17 dead in Montana plane crash

Not much of a report. Where there any survivors?

And I hate to ask, but would the crash be less tragic if it was 17 adults that died?

are you kidding me?

Gotta agree with TP. Elderly, adults and children, it's all the same. It's a tragic story no matter how you turn it.

Children have their whole lives in front of them. No question there is a difference.

 

[Oggiedoggie]

Re: Numerous children among 17 dead in Montana plane crash

It crashed into a cemetary? Seriously??

http://www.mtstandard.com/articles/2009/03/22/breaking/hjjajghhiagjjh.txt

So far, they've recovered 186 bodies.