Crash cause still undetermined

The Daily Inter Lake

Investigators are preparing to move the wreckage of a single-engine airplane that crashed Wednesday onto the ice of Hungry Horse Reservoir, killing Whitefish veterinarian Hugh Rogers.

Weather permitting, crews plan to lift the 1967 Maule M-4 out by helicopter, possibly as early as today.

The plane, which according to a Federal Aviation Administration preliminary report "crashed under unknown circumstances," left a debris field approximately 240 feet long, according to Sheriff's Deputy Jordan White, Flathead County Search and Rescue coordinator.

Officials with the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board have been called in to investigate the crash.

White said the plane's wreckage was pointed north. It appears the plane descended onto the ice before skidding and coming to rest about 35 miles south of Hungry Horse Dam.

"The fuselage was crushed, the wings were both badly damaged," White said. "The tail section was the only portion still intact."

The plane, which stayed upright, still had fuel on board and did not burn, White said.

Rogers, 50, was not required to file a flight plan with the FAA but is believed to have been on a recreational flight in an area he reportedly flew often and knew well.

The Flathead County Sheriff's Office began searching for Rogers' plane, which took off from Glacier Park International Airport, after a satellite picked up an emergency locater beacon near the reservoir around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Three search teams using avionics radios triangulated the downed plane's approximate location.

Rescue personnel on snowmobiles with North Valley Search and Rescue and Flathead County Search and Rescue found the wreckage at about 12:30 a.m. Thursday.

Despite strong winds, snow and poor visibility, rescuers found the aircraft on their second pass, White said.

Four search-and-rescue members stayed overnight with Rogers' body, which was removed from the crash site Thursday afternoon. The body has been taken to the state crime lab in Missoula for an autopsy, Flathead County Undersheriff Pete Wingert said.

Jeanne MacPherson of the State Aeronautics Division has said she did not believe Rogers made a distress call before going down.

The Maule M-4 is a bush plane designed for rugged or unimproved environments. Rogers, an experienced pilot, has run Alpine Animal Hospital in Whitefish since 1997.

Services for Rogers are at 1 p.m. April 11 at Christ Lutheran Church in Whitefish. An obituary for Rogers is on Page A5.