Police: Friends saw plane crash in Bonneville Co., called for help
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The video above shows search and rescue crews responding the plane crash scene.
SWAN VALLEY — An Oklahoma man was killed and his 14-year-old daughter is in good condition after the small plane they were in crashed in a remote area near Palisades Reservoir late Thursday, Oct. 15.
Travis Hamilton of Edmond, Oklahoma was inside the two-seater Aviat Husky plane with his daughter when it went down around 5:15 p.m. about two miles east of Palisades near Sheep Mountain, according to Bonneville County Sheriff Sgt. Jeff Edwards.
Edwards say friends of the victims were in another plane and took off from an airport in Alpine, Wyoming at the same time. The friends witnessed the plane crash and called for help.
The teenage girl was able to leave the plane after the crash, according to Edwards, but her father was killed on impact. Because of the remote area, crews were unable to recover his body until Friday morning.
A Life Flight crew was in the area when the plane crashed and responded within minutes. They transported the 14-year-old to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls where she was listed in good condition Friday morning, Edwards said.
The dense forest near the crash site has created challenges for investigators.
“There’s basically only three ways in – on foot, horseback, or helicopter,” Edwards said. “The plane is still there and will be for a while.”
Investigators from the FAA and National Traffic Safety Board are expected to respond to the crash Friday afternoon.