GREAT FALLS — A Cessna plane crashed into the southside canyon of Crown Mountain on Aug. 8, 2024, killing the pilot and two passengers on board.
Two people were riding in the Scapegoat Wilderness when they saw a crash.
“They went up to it and found that they didn't think the aircraft accident was survivable,” said Lewis & Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton.
The U.S. Forest Service and the Montana Department of Natural Resources & Conservation (DNRC) provided helicopters to get close to the crash site to learn more.
“We are working with Two Bear Air to use the hoist to bring the people out,” Sheriff Dutton said. “We'll take them to Missoula, where they'll go through an autopsy. My job is to determine cause and manner of death, we’ll work with that. And we're going to have to find out who they are.”
The bodies of the victims were later recovered.
Poor weather was a potential factor in the crash, and low clouds, along with diminishing daylight, make it a liability for the rescue team as well.
“Where we're standing right here and 15 miles to the west is different weather, has different weather patterns, it’s right on the Rocky Mountain front, right there on the Continental Divide,” Sheriff Dutton said. “As you can see today, we have a lower cloud deck and that was the same as [Thursday]. So, at any time those clouds can move in and completely stop the recovery effort.”
Several agencies are involved in the recovery operation and the investigation.
“We have elements of the Lewis and Clark County search and rescue here,” Sheriff Dutton said. “We have different agencies. We have the Forest Service here and several federal agencies doing the investigation.”
The identities of the three people involved with the crash have not yet been confirmed, and autopsies on the bodies will not occur until Monday.
The National Transportation Safety Board will be leading the investigation into the plane crash.
