BUTTE, Mont., March 22
Federal investigators were at the scene of a single-engine plane crash near Butte, Mont., Sunday that killed 17 people, officials said.
A Federal Aviation Administration spokesman told CNN the plane was a Pilatus PC-12 that departed Orville, Calif., Sunday morning bound for Bozeman, Mont. FAA spokesman Mike Fergus said the pilot changed the flight plan and rerouted to Butte instead, crashing in a wooded area near a cemetery about 500 feet short of Bert Mooney Airport.
Reports said many of those on board were children, CNN said.
The Pilatus PC-12 is a Swiss-made plane introduced in 1994 listed as being designed to carry one or two pilots and eight passengers, Flying magazine said in its September issue.
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