Downed Montana Plane Carrying More People Than Designed, Investigators Say

The single-engine plane that crashed in Montana over the weekend, carrying 14 passengers of one family, all of whom died, was only designed to carry up to nine passengers and two pilots, investigators say.

Officials are looking into the possibility that added weight from the extra passengers, members of a California family heading to a ski vacation, and ski equipment on board the plane caused the Swiss-made PC-12 turboprop to crash on March 22, 2009. Pilot error, bad weather, and other factors may also have caused or contributed to the accident, officials said.

Seven adults and seven children on board died instantly when their jet nose-dived into the ground on final approach to the small runway in Butte, Montana.

According to the plane’s manufacturer, the PC-12 is designed to carry nine passengers and two pilots, for a total of 11. The plane was owned by Eagle Cap Leasing Inc., of Enterprise, Ore. The president of the company is Irving M. “Bud” Feldkamp III, a dentist who lives in Redlands, a small city about located in San Bernardino County, about 65 miles east of Los Angeles.

Plane Owned by So. Cal. Denist

According to FAA records, Feldkamp is a certified pilot rated for instrument landings. He has been a pilot since 1994 and had his last medical certification in February 2007, records show.

According to NTSB investigators, the plane’s occupants were traveling to Bozeman, Mont., to meet other family members for a ski vacation. The plane had taken off from Redlands, stopped in Vacaville and Oroville to pick up passengers but was diverted to Butte for unknown reasons when it crashed.

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