11 months ago
BUTTE, MT - The victims of a Montana plane crash were three California families traveling to the Yellowstone Club for a skiing vacation.
Bud Feldkamp, who leased the airplane that crashed Sunday afternoon in Butte, said he and his wife lost two daughters and their families, while club member Bob Ching and his wife lost a son and his family.
Feldkamp said the victims included his daughters Vanessa Pullen of Galt and Amy Jacobson of St. Helena. Pullen's husband, Michael, and their children Sydney, 9, and Christopher, 7 died in the crash as did Jacobson's husband, Erin, and their children Taylor, 4; Ava, 3; Jude, 1.
Ching's son, Brent, of Durham, near Chico was killed in the crash along with his wife, Kristen and their children, Hailey, 5 and Caleb, 4.
The pilot was Buddy Summerfield, 65.
The turbo-prop Pilatus PC-12 left the city of Redlands just east of Los Angeles on Sunday morning. It then flew to Vacaville, according to officials. It's believed the Pullen and Jacobson families boarded the aircraft in Vacaville. It was in Vacaville for 50 minutes for re-fueling before taking a short flight to the Oroville Airport. There it was on the ground for a half-hour for refueling before leaving for Montana. Oroville police say the Ching family boarded the plane in Oroville.
Summerfield had filed a flight plan for Bozeman, Montana, which is about 85 miles southeast of Butte. However, the plane diverted to Butte where it crashed about 500 feet from the airport while attempting to land, said spokesman Mike Fergus. A witness to the crash said the single-engine airplane jerked to the left before nose-diving into a cemetery.
Crash Investigation
NTSB investigators were trying to piece together what led to the crash. One possible scenario was that ice accumulated on the plane's wings.
The weather was overcast with 10-miles visibility, according to NTSB spokesman Keith Holloway. Winds were blowing at 10 knots, he said.
In a Monday afternoon news conference, an NTSB spokesman said the aircraft had eight seats in the cabin and two in the cockpit. He said Summerfield had been trained in the Air Force and had thousands of hours experience flying, including 2,000 hours in the Pilatus PC.
The NTSB also said the pilot's decision to divert the flight to Butte from Bozeman should not have created problems because that was the original backup plan.
The NTSB also said, "there was no reason to believe it (the plane) had run out of gas."
Earlier Monday, NTSB Acting Chairman Rosenker said the plane was likely designed to carry a total of 11 people, including two pilots. Investigators were also looking into possible overloading on the plane.
The Federal Aviation Administration requires each passenger over the age of 2 to have his own seat.
Officials said the plane didn't have a cockpit voice recorder or flight data recorder and wasn't certified to carry commercial passengers.
FLIGHT PLAN: Follow the plane's flight path
Airport officials said it was common for pilots to stop in Oroville to top-off their tanks since its fuel is priced below full-service airports.
The pilot had apparently pumped the jet fuel himself while the plane's passengers got out to stretch and use a portable toilet at the edge of the field.
Tom Hagler of Table Mountain Aviation said he was likely the last person to see the plane's occupants alive. "The kids used the bathrooms and they ran around a little bit and then they all got on the plane," said Hagler. "They were young, 6 to 10 years old probably."
The manager of the Oroville Airport said he expects to be contacted by federal authorities as the investigation moves forward.
News10/KXTV and The Associated Press
