Posted: Aug 31, 2010 4:29 PM by Erin Yeykal
Updated: Sep 1, 2010 9:06 AM
Officials were back at the scene of a fatal plane crash Tuesday that happened off Anderson Road west of Bozeman, claiming the life of a Utah man.
The single-engine Cessna 182 was on its way from Ogden, Utah to Gallatin Field when it went down at around 8:11 a.m. Monday in a field about 10 air miles from the Belgrade airport. The sole occupant of the plane, Jarrod Dearden, 34, of Ogden was killed in the crash. His body was recovered Monday night, Gallatin County Sheriff's Department Lieutenant Jason Jarrett said.
The National Transportation Safety Board officials got to the scene Tuesday morning to begin their investigation, Jarrett said. The Federal Aviation Administration got there on Monday. The investigation is a joint effort between the NTSB, FAA and Gallatin County Sheriff's Department.
Dearden was an aircraft mechanic and was traveling from Ogden to Bozeman Monday morning to work.
There were rain showers and low clouds in the area at the time of the crash. Visibility at Gallatin Field dropped from 10 miles to one mile between 8 a.m. and 8:27 a.m., according to KBZK Chief Meteorologist Mike Heard.
A neighbor who was at the scene Monday morning, observing the wreckage reported that a small plane had been flying around the area for about a week scaring horses; however neighbors are not sure if this was the same plane.
The man said his female companion heard the crash.
"Just the engine quit and it was a thud," he said.
Sheriff's deputies, Amsterdam Fire Dept, AMR and the Montana Highway Patrol responded to the scene Monday morning.
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