The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has reported that 17 people have died in a plane crash in Butte, Montana.

The aircraft is believed to be a single engine turboprop plane that departed from Oroville, California at about 11 a.m. local time, heading to Bozeman.

The plane crashed about 500 feet from the airport while attempting to land and caught fire.

Update: the plane crashed into the Holy Cross Cemetery in Butte. Eyewitness reports say that the plane was doing steep angle turns and then went into nose dive.

Update 2: the aircraft was a Pilatus PC-12, a single-engine turboprop passenger and cargo aircraft manufactured by Pilatus Aircraft of Switzerland. The only operator of the aircraft in the area is SeaPort Airlines.

Update 3: the registered owner of the aircraft, Eagle Cap leasing is based in Oregon along with SeaPort. SeaPort airlines doesn’t fly to the destinations though in this crash, so it may have been a charter.

Update 4: added pic c/- Montana Standard. Also the plane may have been carrying several young children who may have been heading for a ski vacation.

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