Montana Wilderness Plane Crash Kills Pilot and Two Daughters

Accident facts and aircraft context

On 17 October 2025, Piper PA-23-250 N2345R was involved in a fatal accident near Condon, Montana.

The pilot and two passengers were fatally injured.

The NTSB preliminary report described a Part 91 personal flight and reported icing concerns, a request for lower terrain, inability to maintain altitude, and a left-engine problem before radar contact was lost.

Purpose of the flight

Part 91 personal travel with family aboard.

Flight sequence and key events

Aboard were Mark Anderson, 62, of Huntsville, Alabama, and his daughters Lainey, 22, and Ellie, 17.

At 15:41, the pilot requested a climb to 14,000 feet because of icing concerns and was told icing had been reported in the mid-teens.

He later asked for vectors toward lower terrain, reported he couldn't maintain altitude, and declared an emergency — citing icing and a problem with the left engine.

At about 16:15, the aircraft impacted mountainous terrain near Youngs Creek, inside the Bob Marshall Wilderness, at an elevation of 5,286 feet.

The Bob Marshall Wilderness is a vast, roadless expanse of forest in northwestern Montana — over a million acres, larger than Rhode Island, and among the most remote terrain in the continental United States.

Search-and-rescue crews from Malmstrom Air Force Base and several local agencies responded once radar contact was lost, but the remote, heavily wooded location meant the wreckage wasn't found until the following morning, when a volunteer with Montana's Department of Transportation Aeronautics division located it near Seeley Lake.

Lainey had recently graduated from Auburn University's Professional Flight program and was a certified flight instructor at Sanders Aviation in Jasper, Alabama, where colleagues remembered her as an exceptional and skilled aviator dedicated to mentoring her students.

The family's home church in Huntsville held vigil in the days before the wreckage was found, and the aviation community that had trained alongside Lainey mourned publicly once the news was confirmed.

Icing combined with reduced engine performance in mountainous terrain leaves very little margin for a pilot to work with — and in this case, the margin ran out before the aircraft could reach lower, safer ground.

Investigation findings

The Powell County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the fatalities and handed the investigation to the FAA and NTSB to determine the cause.

The NTSB's preliminary report documents the radio transmissions, the reported icing and engine trouble, and the location where the wreckage was found.

The loss of a father and his two daughters, on what began as a trip meant to be shared together, is exactly the kind of tragedy this investigation exists to help prevent from happening again.

The Montana crash remains an investigation story as much as an accident story. The known flight sequence and reported aircraft problem can be described, but the final cause must remain open until investigators establish it.

How the event developed

The flight continued into icing conditions while the pilot reported an engine problem and difficulty maintaining altitude. The aircraft ultimately struck mountainous terrain; the investigation remained preliminary.

What the record establishes

No final probable cause has been established in the preliminary NTSB record. The flight involved reported icing and a left-engine problem before the loss of altitude and impact.

What the evidence shows

The aircraft encountered icing and a reported engine problem before losing altitude over mountainous terrain. Because the investigation was preliminary, the record does not justify turning those circumstances into a final cause.

Sources

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_1I2zNfWFc