FAA Investigates

A Cessna 182 with a pilot and four skydivers aboard crashed and burned in northwestern Montana Saturday morning, leaving no survivors, authorities said.

The accident occurred late Saturday morning in a field about 30 miles southwest of Kalispell, in an area known as Lost Prairie, Flathead County Sheriff Mike Meehan said. The FAA in Seattle said the plane went down shortly after takeoff, then burned.

Names of those onboard were not immediately released.

The Cessna had taken off in clear, sunny weather, reported the Associated Press. Its wreckage was near the end of a paved runway, where the charred front of the plane was separated from the rear. The bodies were removed from the wreckage Saturday afternoon.

The Cessna was operated by Skydive Lost Prairie and carrying two skydiving instructors and two trainees to jumps, said manager Michael Morrill. He said the crash happened on Sky Dive Lost Prairie' land.

The pilot was from out of state, the novice jumpers were from Great Falls, one of the instructors lived in Whitefish and the other in Missoula, said Skydive Lost Prairie owner Fred Sand. He said the Cessna was in good operating condition.
He called the loss of life "heart wrenching."

"They're my friends," Sand said. "Whether it's an auto accident, an avalanche, it hurts when your friends die. We all hurt."

Morrill said the pilot, who had a commercial rating, began working for the company ten days ago and had more than 500 hours of flying time. 

The company Web site advertises a private airport surrounded by mountains near Kalispell, MT. It says it has been providing certified skydiving instruction since 1973. 

Federal aviation safety investigators were to arrive at the scene Sunday.

The skydivers were heading off to tandem jumps, where trainees exit the aircraft high above the airport with their harness securely fastened to their instructor's harness. The instructors control the parachute that carries both to the ground, Morrill said. The parachutists were to fly for about 30 minutes, free fall for 30 seconds, and then have a 5-minute "canopy ride" to the ground.

FMI: www.faa.gov, www.skydivelostprairie.com