WEST YELLOWSTONE, Mont. — A small airplane went down during a late-night flight last week near Yellowstone National Park, claiming the lives of three people.
One of those victims was 55-year-old Kurt Enoch Robey from Lehi, Utah. The other two were 60-year-old Rodney Conover and 23-year-old Madison Conover, both from Tennessee.
The Gallatin County Sheriff's Office in Montana said the plane took off from West Yellowstone Airport with Robey and the Conovers on board Thursday night, just before midnight. They then received word of the crash the next day around 1:40 p.m. after the U.S. Department of Transportation's Aero Division was unable to find the plane.
Two search planes were sent out to the area, which they narrowed down thanks to the last location on the smart watch of one of the occupants. They found the crashed plane in a forested area just south of West Yellowstone.
Data from FlightAware says the plane was only in the air for about two minutes. It was a Piper Cherokee single-engine plane, registered to an owner in Lindon.
A GoFundMe account has been set up to help Robey's family. The organizer says the money will primarily be used to fund college and Latter-day Saint missions for his children.
The page read in part: "we are heartbroken over his loss, but grateful that he was doing what he loved: flying."
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the cause of the crash.
