AUGUSTA — Lewis & Clark County Sheriff/Coroner Leo Dutton confirmed on Monday, August 12, 2024, that all three bodies were recovered from the site of a Cessna 182 plane crash west of Augusta.
The plane went down Thursday afternoon in the area of Crown Mountain in the Scapegoat Wilderness.
The bodies were recovered on Friday evening. Dutton told MTN News that the identities of the crash victims are still being confirmed.
He said due to fire from the crash, investigators will have to use DNA to identify the three people aboard, and it could take weeks to get the results.
"It is terrible, and I wish I could tell the family positively who was in that plane, but I can not until I get the DNA back from the crime lab," said Dutton.
It is unclear exactly when the plane crashed.
According to Dutton, the aircraft was traveling from Pullman, Washington, to Great Falls when it went off the radar screen at 12:30 pm.
Salt Lake City air traffic control saw the plane was overdue and started notifying local jurisdictions.
Around that same time, two people near the crash site saw it and called emergency dispatchers.
The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation into what could have caused the crash.
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According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the plane was a Cessna 182, and it crashed under "unknown circumstances."
The three people were the pilot and two passengers; their names have not yet been released.
Initial reports indicate that the plane went down in the Scapegoat Wilderness at about 3 p.m.
Lewis & Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton says that recovery efforts are underway.
The National Transportation Safety Board will be leading the investigation.
We will update you when we get more information.
