23 Mar 2009

14 killed after plane crashes at Montana cemetery

10:32 pm on 23 March 2009

United States officials have launched an inquiry into the cause of a plane crash in Montana that killed 14 people, including seven children.

The light aircraft nosedived into a cemetery near the town of Butte on Sunday. There were no survivors.

The pilot was flying from Oroville, California, when he diverted to Butte, officials said. He tried to land but crashed 150 metres from the airport.

The children were probably going on a ski trip, officials said.

Karen Byrd of the Federal Aviation Administration said seven adults and seven children had been killed. That revised downwards an earlier death toll of at least 16.

FAA officials said earlier that the plane - a Pilatus PC-12 Swiss-made turboprop aircraft - crashed at approximately 3.27pm on Sunday in cloudy conditions.

The local airport has a short runway and is not easy to land there because it is surrounded by mountains, a reporter for The Montana Standard, told the BBC.

Reports suggest the pilot had filed a flight plan showing a destination of Bozeman, a ski destination about 136km south-east of Butte.

But the pilot cancelled his flight plan at some point and diverted for Butte, an FAA spokesperson said.