A small plane crashed into a parked aircraft at Kalispell City Airport in Montana on Monday, triggering a large fire but causing no serious injuries, officials said.
The single-engine Socata TBM 700 turboprop, carrying four people, was attempting to land around 2 pm (local time) when it struck an unoccupied plane on the ground, according to Kalispell Police Chief Jordan Venezio and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The impact sparked a fire that spread to a grassy area before being extinguished.
Kalispell Fire Chief Jay Hagen said witnesses saw the aircraft approach from the south, crash-land at the end of the runway and slam into another plane. The landing aircraft caught fire, but the pilot and three passengers managed to escape without assistance. Two passengers suffered minor injuries and were treated at the airport.
The city-owned airport lies just south of Kalispell, a community of about 30,000 people in northwest Montana. Several aircraft were affected in the incident, authorities said.
Ron Danielson, who manages a nearby inn, described hearing a loud impact before dark smoke filled the air. “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.
FAA records show the plane was built in 2011 and is registered to Meter Sky LLC of Pullman, Washington. The company did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Aviation safety consultant Jeff Guzzetti, a former crash investigator for both the FAA and NTSB, told Associated Press that accidents involving planes striking parked aircraft occur a few times a year in general aviation.
In a notable case in February, a Learjet owned by Mötley Crüe singer Vince Neil veered off a runway in Scottsdale, Arizona, and hit a parked Gulfstream, killing one person. The NTSB said the incident may have been linked to earlier damage to the landing gear, though the cause has not yet been determined.
