An Alabama pilot and his two daughters died in a Friday evening plane crash in the Bob Marshall Wilderness.  

The Powell County Sheriff's Office received a report of a possible downed aircraft about 4:30 p.m., Oct. 17, according to a post on the agency’s Facebook page the next day. Air resources were deployed from Malmstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls and continued to search until around midnight.  

About 9 a.m., a volunteer aircraft located the wreck in a remote, wooded area in Youngs Creek northeast of Seeley Lake. The volunteer, under the command of the state Department of Transportation Aeronautics division, was working off a weak emergency locator transmitter signal, authorities said.  

The Powell County Coroner's Office, Missoula County Search and Rescue, and the Seeley Lake Rural Fire Department, with assistance from the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, arrived on the scene about 4 p.m. 

The pilot and two passengers were pronounced dead at the scene.  

MARK ANDERSON was piloting the small aircraft with his two daughters, Lainey and Ellie, on board, according to a Facebook post by the Monte Sano Baptist Church in Huntsville, Alabama.  

The three were on a family vacation when the airplane experienced engine problems near their destination in the Bob Marshall Wilderness, according to a Facebook post from Sanders Aviation, a flight school based in Jasper, Alabama.  

“Lainey was an exceptional and skilled aviator and a beloved flight instructor at our Jasper Campus. She was dedicated to her craft and students,” read the post. 

Lainey graduated from Auburn University’s professional flight program where she was a member of Alpha Chi Omega Women’s Fraternity, according to the post.  

Ellie was a senior at Huntsville High School in Alabama and played on the volleyball team, according to a social media post from Huntsville High Volleyball. Lainey was an alumna of the school.  

“Ellie’s light, Lainey’s spirit, and the love their family shared will always remain part of us,” read the sports team’s post.  

The plane that crashed was a fixed wing multi-engine Piper PA-23 and registered under Blue Wave Air LLC in Huntsville, according to federal records. 

The plane departed Billings-Logan International Airport about 2 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 17, according to flight data. The plane was bound for Polson Airport. 

The last known flight path shows the plane heading northwest toward the Polson Airport before making a tight U-turn and heading northeast.  

The investigation was turned over to the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board, which will lead efforts to determine the cause of the crash. 

Reporter Jack Underhill can be reached at 758-4407 and [email protected].