Plane Crash
Flathead County Sheriff's deputies stand beside the wreckage of a plane that crashed at Lost Prairie Skydive center, killing all five people aboard, Saturday, west of Marion. The pilot of the Cessna 182 operated by Skydive Lost Prairie was carrying two skydiving instructors and two trainees to jumps, said Michael Morrill, manager of the business. He said the crash happened on Skydive Lost Prairie's land. Craig Moore/Daily Inter Lake<br>Plane crash kills all 5 onboard<br>By JOHN STANG<br>The Daily Inter Lake
A Saturday morning plane crash killed four skydivers and their pilot 32 miles west of Kalispell.
There were no survivors.
The victims' identities were not released Saturday, pending notification of their next of kin, according to the Flathead County Sheriff's Office. Friends said one victim had been living in the Whitefish area.
The crash occurred at Skydive Lost Prairie's airfield four miles north of McGregor Lake at about 10:10 a.m during calm, sunny weather. A Cessna 182-C - owned by Skydive Lost Prairie - was carrying two expert parachutists and two beginner parachutists as tandem jumpers. In tandem jumping, a person is connected to an expert parachutist and they skydive as a pair with one parachute.
Witnesses told Flathead County Sheriff's deputies that the plane took off from the north end of the hardtop runway, and then immediately circled and appeared to be trying to land at the runway's south end, said Undersheriff Pete Wingert.
The plane crashed about 150 feet short of the runway.
Investigators from he National Transportation Safety Board were scheduled to arrive at the crash site today.
No one was playing close attention to the plane because low-flying aircraft are common in the small basin around the runway, Wingert said.
Deanna Schrader of Kalispell and her 14-year-old son, Joseph Skokan, knew one of the expert jumpers, and were staying at a cabin-like place near the runway's south end.
Skokan was watching television and heard a plane take off.
"A minute later, I heard a boom. I looked out the window and saw the plane burning," he said.
He yelled at his mother, who went out on the porch and saw the flames. She jumped into a truck to rush to the crash site.
"I wanted to go out there and pull out my friends, but I couldn't," she said.
The flames kept her away. The plane's front and wings were totally destroyed. Only a banged-up tail section - parrallel to the ground - remains.
The bodies were removed mid-afternoon Saturday.
Michael Morrill, manager of the business, told the Associated Press that the pilot began working for Skydive Lost Prairie about 10 days ago and was experienced, with more than 500 hours of flying time. He had a commercial rating, Morrill said.
Skydive Lost Prairie has been in business since 1973, according to its Web site.