Aaj News

Montana airport incident: Plane crashes into parked aircrafts, sparks blaze

Pilot losses control and crashes into runway
Published 12 Aug, 2025 11:06am
Screengrab via Youtube
Screengrab via Youtube

A small plane crashed into a parked aircraft while landing at Kalispell City Airport in Montana on Tuesday, igniting a large fire but resulting in serious injuries, authorities reported.

According to Kalispell Police Chief Jordan Venezio and the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) the single- engine plane, carrying four people, attempted to land around 2pm.

A preliminary investigation showed the pilot lost control, crashing onto the runway before the plane struck several parked aircraft, igniting fires on multiple planes, Kalispell police said. The fire spread to a grassy area before it was extinguished, Venezio said.

Witnesses reported seeing the plane crash-land at the end of runway and careen into another aircraft, said Kalispell Fire Chief Jay Hagen.

The passenger managed to exit the plane on their own, although two sustained minor injuries and were treated at the airport.

Ron Danielson manages a nearby inn and said he heard and saw the crash before plumes of dark smoke filled the area.

“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.

The flight originated in Pullman, Washington and the aircraft was identified by the FAA as a Socata TBM 700 turboprop, built in 2011 and owned by Meter Sky LLC of Pullman.

Company representatives did not respond to inquiries of the comment.

Aviation safety consultant Jeff Guzzetti, who used to investigate crashes for both the FAA and NTSB, said incidents where planes crash into parked aircrafts happen a few times a year in general aviation.

In one high-profile incident in February, a Learjet owned by Motley Crue singer Vince Neil veered off a runway in Scottsdale, Arizona, and crashed into a parked Gulfstream, killing one person.

The NTSB said that crash may have been related to prior damage to the landing gear, but investigators haven’t determined the cause.

fire

Plane Crash

incident

FAA

Ignite

Montana Airport

Federal Aviation Authority