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UPDATE: Cessna crashes near Bozeman, at least 1 killed

Posted: Aug 30, 2010 11:43 AM
Updated: Aug 30, 2010 12:21 PM

BOZEMAN - At least one person is dead after a small plane crashed in a wheat field west of Bozeman Monday morning.

FAA spokesman Mike Furgis of Seattle told the Associated Press he received an e-mail Monday morning with the report that a Cessna 182 had crashed and there was a fatality. He said it did not know how many people were on board or how many had been killed.

Cessna's website lists that model as a four-seat, single-engine aircraft. Furgis released the tail number and an FAA database shows the plane is registered to Ikarus Aviation of Salt Lake City, according to the AP.

Residents in the area heard a small plane flying in the area at around 8 a.m., according to Gallatin County Sheriff Lt. Jason Jarrett who was at the scene. At 8:11 a.m. the sheriff's office received reports that a plane had crashed. The aircraft did not have a flight plan. The sheriff's office would not say where the airplane originated but did say it was not from Belgrade's Gallatin Field.

The plane crashed in a wheat field off of Anderson Road, north of the Churchill/Norris Road intersection. Officials had a small area roped off Monday.

Jarrett says that they do not know how many passengers were on board. The sheriff's department is waiting for the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration to arrive and begin their investigation.

A neighbor who was at the scene Monday morning, observing the wreckage reported that a small plane had been flying around the area for about a week scaring horses; however neighbors are not sure if this was the same plane.

The man said his female companion heard the crash.

"Just the engine quit and it was a thud," he said.

The FAA is sending its investigator from Helena and should be arriving on scene soon. The NTSB investigation team will be flying up from California and should be on scene Tuesday.

Also on scene Monday were emergency responders from Amsterdam Volunteer Fire Department, Montana Highway Patrol and American Medical Response.

Topics: Bozeman, Montana, Plane, crash, cessna