Coroner identifies Huntsville family killed in Montana plane crash

POWELL COUNTY, Mont. (WHNT) – The Powell County Montana Coroner confirmed to News 19 the three people killed in a plane crash is a family from Huntsville.

The Powell County Coroners Office identified the plane crash victims as Mark Anderson, Lainey Anderson and Ellie Anderson.

The sheriff’s office in Powell County, Montana, said it received a report of a possible downed aircraft on Friday afternoon.

Air resources were deployed to an area from Malstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls and continued to search until around midnight. On Saturday, about 9 a.m., PCSO said a helicopter located the wreckage of the aircraft in a wooded area.

The pilot and two other occupants were pronounced dead at the scene, according to PCSO.

The Monte Sano Baptist Church’s Facebook page said in a post on Saturday afternoon that Mark Anderson and his daughters, Ellie and Lainey, from Huntsville, went missing while flying to Polson, Montana. The post says Mark Anderson is an experienced pilot, and their plane was located on Saturday.

The church also asked people for prayers for the family.

The Powell County Sheriff’s Office has turned the investigation over to the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board, which will lead efforts to determine the cause of the crash.