Backcountry Flight Turns Fatal for Father and Two Daughters in Montana

A heartbreaking aviation accident deep in Montana’s wilderness has left many across the state grieving for a family who came here simply seeking adventure. A small private aircraft carrying Alabama pilot Mark Anderson, age 62, and his two daughters, Lainey Anderson, 22, and Ellie Anderson, 17, crashed in the rugged terrain of the Bob Marshall Wilderness in northern Powell County.

The family was flying from Alabama to Montana when the aircraft dropped off radar around 4:30 p.m. on Friday, October 17.

Remote Terrain Made Rescue Efforts Difficult

Authorities were alerted about a downed aircraft late in the afternoon, but the remote location had no cell signal, which delayed rescuers’ efforts. Search teams, including aircraft from the Montana Department of Transportation Aeronautics Division flying a volunteer plane, located the wreckage Saturday morning near where the radar contact was lost. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are now leading the investigation. According to reporting, the family’s aircraft, a twin engine Aztec, had developed engine problems near their destination.

Montana’s Beauty Comes With Brutal Reality in the Backcountry

The Bob Marshall Wilderness is iconic for its remote beauty, but it’s also rugged terrain where cell phones often don’t work, weather can change fast, and access is limited. Even for an experienced pilot with a certified flight instructor daughter, the challenges of mountain flying and backcountry terrain sadly proved unforgiving.

Honoring Outsiders Who Embodied Montana’s Spirit of Adventure

Though this family was from Alabama, they shared a spirit many Montanans recognize: a desire to explore, to challenge themselves, to fly in to places most people only glimpse from afar. Lainey, the oldest daughter, had graduated from Auburn University’s Professional Flight program and worked as a certified flight instructor near Jasper, Alabama. Her school noted that she was “an exceptional and skilled aviator” and that the twin engine plane her father was flying developed engine problems not far from their destination.

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As Montanans, we mourn their loss as if they were our neighbors, because anyone who chooses to enter our state’s remote wild places becomes part of this community, even if just for a time.