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17 Die as Plane Crashes Into Montana Cemetery

Children among dead when turboprop falls short of Butte airport

By Neal Colgrass, Newser Staff

Posted Mar 22, 2009 5:53 PM CDT

(Newser) – Seventeen people died in Butte, Mont., today when a single-engine plane crashed in a cemetery and burst into flames, the Montana Standard reports. Several children were among the victims, who boarded this morning in Orville, Calif., en route to Bozeman. The pilot changed route mid-flight and landed about 500 feet short of Butte's Bert Mooney Airport, an FAA spokesman said.

"All of a sudden the pilot lost control and went into a nosedive," said a teen who lives near the airport. "He couldn't pull out in time and crashed into the trees of the cemetery. It looked like a stunt plane." No injuries were reported on the ground.

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A Pilatus PC12, the same make of plane that crash-landed in Butte, Mont. today, killing 17. (Wikipedia)

A fire burns inside the Holy Cross Cemetery after a small, singe-engine plane crashed in an area just south of the Bert Mooney Airport in Butte, Mont. on Sunday, March 22, 2009. (AP Photo/The Montana Standard, Martha Guidoni)

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Some passengers on board the turboprop plane that crashed in Butt, Mont., today were likely going on a ski vacation, an FAA spokesman said. (msnbc)

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17 Die as Plane Crashes Into Montana Cemetery

Children among dead when turboprop falls short of Butte airport

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17 Die as Plane Crashes Into Montana Cemetery

Children among dead when turboprop falls short of Butte airport

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[Images (2)]

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OTHER STORIES ON OUR RADAR

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Pastor's Daughter Accidentally Shot in Head at Church

Moises Zambrana was showing gun to Hannah Kelley's boyfriend

CEO of Chip-Maker Micron Killed in Plane Crash

Steve Appleton's experimental aircraft goes down

2011 on Track to Be Airlines' Safest Year Ever

But experts warn that we must keep working on safety

Riskiest Part of Flight Might Now Be on Ground

With skies safe, officials turn their attention to 'surface threats' on runways

Family of 4 Dead After Plane Hits Highway

Another man also was aboard in New Jersey

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