Posted: Aug 31, 2010 7:48 AM by Erin Yeykal
Updated: Aug 31, 2010 4:20 PM
UPDATE: A man killed when a plane crashed into a field near Bozeman Monday morning has been identified.
Jarrod Dearden, 34, of Ogden, Utah, was killed when the Cessna 182 single-engine airplane crashed into a barley field at 8:11 a.m. near Anderson Road west of Bozeman. Dearden was the only person aboard the aircraft, according to the Gallatin County Sheriff's Department. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
An initial investigation revealed that Dearden was an aircraft mechanic and was traveling from Ogden to Bozeman Monday morning to work.
The crash site is about 10 air miles from Gallatin Field. 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.
The FAA is currently on the scene. NTSB investigators are traveling here from California and expect to be at the site by Monday night. The investigation will be conducted jointly by the Office of the Sheriff/Coroner the NTSB and FAA.
Sheriff's deputies, Amsterdam Fire Dept, AMR and the Montana Highway Patrol responded to the scene Monday morning.
At least one person is dead after a small plane crashed in a wheat field west of Bozeman Monday morning.
FAA spokesman Mike Furgis of Seattle told the Associated Press he received an e-mail Monday morning with the report that a Cessna 182 had crashed and there was a fatality. He said it did not know how many people were on board or how many had been killed.
Cessna's website lists that model as a four-seat, single-engine aircraft. Furgis released the tail number and an FAA database shows the plane is registered to Ikarus Aviation of Salt Lake City, according to the AP.
Residents in the area heard a small plane flying in the area at around 8 a.m., according to Gallatin County Sheriff Lt. Jason Jarrett who was at the scene. At 8:11 a.m. the sheriff's office received reports that a plane had crashed. The aircraft did not have a flight plan. The plane was headed for Belgrade's Gallatin Field Airport, Jarrett said.
The plane crashed in a wheat field off of Anderson Road, north of the Churchill/Norris Road intersection. Officials had a small area roped off Monday.
Jarrett says that they do not know how many passengers were on board.
The Federal Aviation Administration arrived at the scene Monday afternoon. The National Transportation Safety Board is expected to arrive later this evening.
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.
The FAA is sending its investigator from Helena and should be arriving on scene soon. The NTSB investigation team will be flying up from California and should be on scene Tuesday.
Also on scene Monday were emergency responders from Amsterdam Volunteer Fire Department, Montana Highway Patrol and American Medical Response.
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