A single-engine plane carrying children on a skiing holiday to the Rocky Mountains crashed in Montana yesterday, killing 14 people, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
The crash, which killed all seven children and seven adults on board, began with a sudden nose dive on approach to an airport in Butte, a federal official said today.
National Transportation Safety Board Acting Chairman Mark Rosenker said his team is looking into the experience of the pilot and whether the 11-seat plane was overweight.
The single-engine plane had no "black box" flight data recorder, and the investigation could take months.
The Pilatus PC-12 turboprop plane was carrying three fewer passengers than originally reported yesterday.
The plane made three stops in California before heading to Bozeman, Montana, for a ski vacation but officials did not give details about the passengers. Bozeman and Butte are towns of about 30,000 each in the mountainous western half of the state.
The single pilot requested twice to divert to Butte from Bozeman, without giving a reason, and both times the Salt Lake City flight controller approved the change, Mr Rosenker told a news conference.
He said witnesses saw the plane flying at about 300 feet and take a 90-degree nose-dive before crashing in a cemetery just short of the airport. Photos showed a ball of flame at the crash site.
Reuters