10:00 a.m. MST Update: At a morning press conference, the NTSB stated the plane in yesterday's deadly crash was likely configured to hold 11 people. That number includes a pilot and co-pilot. At this point, they don't know if the plane was overloaded since there may have been young children on board. 14 people died included seven children when the plane crashed in a Butte cemetery, just feet from the airport runway.

NTSB officials added that there was no flight recorder on this plane, and that will hinder this investigation. They say not all of the wreckage burned so that may help in figuring out why the plane went down. They also don't know why the pilot diverted from Bozeman to Butte.

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9:00 a.m. MST Update: BUTTE, Mont. (AP) - Coroners from Missoula were traveling to Butte today to help their counterparts in the aftermath of a plane
crash that killed 14 people, seven of them children.

About eight coroners from Missoula were going to Butte as representatives of the National Transportation Safety Board, including its chairman, began investigating the weekend crash of a single-engine turboprop airplane. It went down in a cemetery yesterday afternoon near the Butte airport, killing all aboard.

The number of those dead was confirmed by Karen Byrd of the Federal Aviation Administration in Renton, Wash.

Seven officials from the National Transportation Safety Board, including its acting chairman, were at the crash scene early today in gentle snowfall and 28-degree weather. The NTSB plans a news conference at 9:30 a.m. MDT in the airport terminal.

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2:00 a.m. MST Update:

The Napa Valley Register reports the victims included a St.Helena, California family of five, including three children ages two through four.

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10:00 p.m. MST Update:

BUTTE, Mont. - An airplane that crashed this afternoon in Butte, killing from 14 to 17 people, originally took off from Brown Field Municipal airport in San Diego on Saturday evening.

From there it flew to Redlands, Calif., where it left this morning for Vacaville, Calif., then to Oroville, Calif., and then on to Butte.

That's according to Flight Aware, a Web site that tracks air traffic.

The National Transportation Safety Board could not confirm that information.

At a news conference tonight in Butte, NTSB official Kristi Dunks, said they are still gathering information on the aircraft, it's purpose, what they were doing and where they were going.

An FAA official says the plane apparently was carrying youngsters on a ski trip. The Pilatus PC-12 aircraft crashed in Butte at about 2:30 this afternoon. There were no survivors.

FAA Spokesman Mike Fergus says the single-engine plane crashed and burned about 500 feet from the Butte airport while attempting to land.

NTSB officials say there were no survivors in this afternoon's plane crash in Butte.

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At a 7:00 p.m. press conference, investigators would not confirm the number of dead, but say all on board died. The Pilatus PC-12 aircraft went down in a cemetery near the Bert Mooney airport at 2:33 p.m. Emergency crews arrived on scene within minutes and had the fire out just after 3:00 p.m.

NTSB officials also say they don't believe the plane had a flight recorder. Investigators are on scene, and no bodies will be recovered this evening. A disaster team from Missoula County is also on the way to the scene to help out.

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6:30 p.m. MST Update:

BUTTE, Mont. - A group of about a dozen children and four adults -- whose airplane crashed this afternoon in Butte -- were seen earlier today at the airport in Oroville, California, where the plane took off.

Tom Hagler owns an airplane maintenance business at the airport in Oroville. He says the children ranged from about six to 10 year olds. He let the children into his building to use the restroom.

The FAA says 17 people aboard the plane were killed when the Pilatus PC-12 aircraft crashed in Butte at about 2:30 this afternoon. There were no survivors.

FAA Spokesman Mike Fergus says the single-engine turboprop plane departed from Orville at about noon, Mountain time. The plane crashed and burned about 500 feet from the Butte airport while attempting to land.

Fergus says the plane was registered to Eagle Cap Leasing Inc. in Enterprise, Ore., but he doesn't know who was operating the plane.

At 6:30 p.m. MST U.S. Senator Jon Tester released the following statement in response to the crash:

“I ask all Americans to keep the victims, their families and friends, and emergency crews on scene in their thoughts and prayers as this tragic news unfolds. This is a heart-wrenching chapter in Montana’s history. My thanks to all professionals responding to this crash. They have a tough job ahead. Working together, we now begin the long healing process.”


At 8:00 p.m. MST U.S. Senator Max Baucus stated:

"I'm deeply saddened to hear of this tragedy. My thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of the victims, and with the people of Butte. The situation is in the very capable hands of Montana's emergency workers, they are true professionals and my thoughts are with them, as well. This is a very sad day for Montana."