UPDATE: Three Members Of Gospel Group The Nelons Killed In Wyoming Plane Crash
A single-engine plane that crashed Friday afternoon in northeast Wyoming was en route to Billings, Montana, having just taken on a load of fuel in Nebraska.
While emergency responders report nobody survived, it is yet to be known how many people were on the Pilatus PC-12/47E that's registered to Haynie Enterprises Inc. of Henderson, Nevada.
The manager of the airfield in Nebraska City, Nebraska, confirmed to Cowboy State Daily that while the plane didn't originate from there, it did touch down to take on fuel.
"It did stop here for fuel," said the manager, who declined to be identified by name.
He also said the plane was a regular customer buying fuel at the small airport.
"It's a real bummer. They've been here multiple times and are just super, super nice people," he said. "I didn't fuel it (this time), but typically they put on about 200 or 300 (gallons)."
He said he had heard something happened to the plane, but had hoped it wasn't true.
"We get aircraft from all over the country, and I dreaded the day this would happen," he said.
The Response
The Campbell County Sheriff's Office and Fire Department responded Friday afternoon to a call of a fatal plane crash about 8 miles south of the Montana border, authorities report.
The crashed aircraft sparked a wildfire.
Campbell County Undersheriff Quentin Reynolds confirmed to Cowboy State Daily that there were "fatalities in the wreck, adding, that he doesn't know "how many or whom."
The plane went down about 1 p.m. It was headed north over Gillette, and it didn't take off from any Wyoming location, Leslie Perkins, Campbell County communications director, told Cowboy State Daily.
The National Transportation Safety Board was on the way to the scene to investigate as of 4:30 Friday afternoon.
Reynolds said sheriff’s office units arrived at the scene about 2:30 p.m. Medical personnel were called off on their response, David King, Campbell County Emergency Management coordinator, told Cowboy State Daily.
Scanner traffic was terse early in the response, with agents agreeing to call each other or talk on different radio lines. One responder confirmed that he’d spotted the fuselage.
A fire responder asked if he was needed. Another referenced a dozer having drawn a line across one side of the ravine so vehicles could cross the ravine to get to its northeast side.
Deputies had heard reports of a smoke column. Perkins said the fire was not subdued as of 4:30 p.m. She later dispatched a statement saying the county's suppression efforts include aircraft, heavy equipment and engine crews.
One agent speaking over the scanner asked at 4:18 p.m. if he could fly his drone over the scene to get photographs, and another responder told him that was fine.
Back at the Campbell County Fire Department in Gillette, an attendant on the phone said "no comment," adding that, "no one's here."
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information is available.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com and Greg Johnson can be reached at greg@cowboystatedaily.com.
