Pilot killed after plane crashes into potato processing plant
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LATEST UPDATE: Pilot killed in plane crash was ‘adventurous, beautiful’ woman who ‘brightened the room with her smile’
HEYBURN — A pilot is dead after a plane crashed into a potato processing plant Wednesday morning in central Idaho.
It happened around 8:35 a.m. at Gem State Processing in Heyburn. The single-engine Cessna 208B registered to Spirit Air in Salmon crashed into the building and appears to have flipped over on the roof.
“The pilot and sole occupant of the plane sadly did not survive,” Heyburn Police Chief Ryan Bertalotto said in a news release. “None of the Gem State Processing employees were injured.”
Heyburn Police, Minidoka and Cassia County Sheriff’s deputies, Minidoka County Fire Protection District, North Cassia Fire, Burley Fire and Rupert EMS responded to the scene.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are reviewing witness statements and evidence to determine the cause of the crash.
Police have not released the name of the pilot but family members tell EastIdahoNews.com she was from Salmon and MagicValley.com reports the plane was supposed to deliver mail to the Burley airport.
“The City of Heyburn sends its condolences to the family of the pilot, the aviation company, and to the Gem State Processing family during this difficult time,” Chief Bertalotto said.
