A small plane carrying four people crashed into a parked aircraft while landing at a northwest Montana airport on Monday afternoon, creating a large fireball and setting parts of the runway ablaze in Kalispell.
All four passengers were able to escape the wreckage, with two treated for minor injuries at the scene, according to Kalispell Fire Chief Jay Hagen. The incident occurred around 2 p.m. when the plane skidded “like a Frisbee” into a parked aircraft before bursting into flames.
The fire briefly spread to a grassy area of the city-owned airport. Multiple agencies, including Kalispell police and fire departments, as well as Evergreen, Smith, and Whitefish fire departments, responded to the crash.
Officials have cordoned off part of the runway, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will investigate. The aircraft involved was a single-engine Socata TBM 700 turboprop, owned by Meter Sky LLC of Pullman, Washington, according to FAA records.
Aviation safety consultant Jeff Guzzetti noted that such collisions between landing and parked aircraft occur a few times a year in general aviation. Kalispell, home to around 30,000 people, is located about 33 miles southwest of Glacier National Park.
