Alabama is mourning the loss of a Huntsville family after a tragic plane crash in Montana claimed the lives of a father and his two daughters.

According to the Powell County Sheriff’s Office, the agency received a report of a possible downed aircraft at approximately 4:30 p.m. Friday in the Bob Marshall Wilderness of northern Powell County.

Air resources from Malmstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls searched the remote area through the night, and a volunteer aircraft under the Montana Department of Transportation Aeronautics Division located the plane the following morning using a weak ELT signal.

The wreckage was found in a heavily wooded area in Youngs Creek northeast of Seeley Lake. All three occupants were pronounced dead at the scene.

Authorities identified the victims as Mark Ande

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