Plane crashes into parked aircraft while landing at Montana airport, sparking fire

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KALISPELL, Mont. (AP) — A small plane landing on Monday at a Montana airport crashed into parked aircraft, triggering a large fire but causing no serious injuries, authorities said.

The single-engine plane carrying four people was attempting to land at about 2 p.m. at the Kalispell City Airport, according to Kalispell Police Chief Jordan Venezio and the Federal Aviation Administration.

A preliminary investigation showed the pilot lost control, crashing onto the runway before the plane struck several parked aircraft, igniting fires on multiple planes, Kalispell police said. The fire spread to a grassy area before it was extinguished, Venezio said.

The small, city-owned airport is just south of Kalispell, a city of about 30,000 people in northwest Montana.

Witnesses said a plane crash-landed at the end of the runway and careened into another aircraft, Kalispell Fire Chief Jay Hagen said.

The passengers were able to get out on their own after it came to a stop, Hagen said. Two were slightly hurt and treated at the airport, he said.

Ron Danielson manages a nearby inn and said he heard and saw the crash before plumes of dark smoke filled the area.

“It sounded like if you were to stick your head in a bass drum and somebody smacked it as hard as they could,” he said.

The flight originated in Pullman, Washington, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

The plane was identified by the FAA as a Socata TBM 700 turboprop. It was built in 2011 and owned by Meter Sky LLC of Pullman, FAA records show. Company representatives did not immediately respond to a telephone message seeking comment.

Aviation safety consultant Jeff Guzzetti, who used to investigate crashes for both the FAA and NTSB, said incidents where planes crash into parked aircrafts happen a few times a year in general aviation.

In one high-profile incident in February, a Learjet owned by Motley Crue singer Vince Neil veered off a runway in Scottsdale, Arizona, and crashed into a parked Gulfstream, killing one person. The NTSB said that crash may have been related to prior damage to the landing gear, but investigators haven’t determined the cause.