The pilot of a plane that crashed mid-October in the Bob Marshall Wilderness, killing all three family members aboard, reported the airplane was icing up and experiencing engine trouble before it crashed, according to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board.

The crash, which happened around 4:15 p.m. on Oct. 17 northeast of Seeley Lake, killed pilot Mark Anderson and his two daughters, Lainey and Ellie Anderson, all of Huntsville, Alabama. They were en route to the airport in Polson after departing Billings earlier in the day.

According to the preliminary NTSB report, Anderson had asked air traffic control to climb to 14,000 feet “due to concerns about icing” in the range of altitude and subsequently told controllers he was unable to maintain altitude.

He decl

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