Two survive crash of small plane

Flathead County officials say two people escaped serious injury when a small airplane crashed shortly after takeoff from an airstrip at West Glacier.

Deputies responded to the crash report at about 10 a.m. Sunday.

The Sheriff's Office reports the plane was having engine trouble right after liftoff and the pilot was not able to turn around and land at the airstrip. A deputy said the plane's engine sputtered and powered off as the plane came down.

The two people on board were taken to Kalispell Regional Medical Center by ambulance. The pilot was released from the hospital Sunday afternoon while his female passenger was held overnight for observation. Their names have not been released.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation and Safety Board are investigating.

Sunday's crash comes almost exactly a year after a crash of a light plane in the lower Flathead River drainage claimed four lives.

On June 27, 2010, a Piper Arrow left Kalispell City Airport for a scenic flight.

The flight did not return. A search was launched the next day and the plane's wreckage was found three days later in mountainous terrain about 10 miles southwest of Dixon.

The plane was carrying two Daily Inter Lake reporters — Melissa Weaver, 23, and Erika Hoefer, 27 — along with two Missoula men, Brian Williams, 28, and pilot Sonny Kless, 25.