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Havre plane goes down killing three

(Created: Friday, September 14, 2007 12:35 PM MDT)
Havre Daily News StaffA plane traveling from Havre car rying thre e local s t o Washington went down yesterday morning killing all on board, a F e d e r a l A v i a t i o n Administration spokesman said today. The three killed have been identified as John Brown, Sr., Randy McPherson and Chris Schafer. On route to Skagit Regional Airport in Washington, the instrument flight went off the radar at approximately 11 a.m. Soon after, Air Traffic Control began looking for the plane, the FFA spokesman said. The wreckage was found about 1 p.m. with smoke still billowing at the scene. " I t wa s a Be e c h c ra f t Bonanaza aircraft registered to Textana, Inc.," said FAA spokesperson Allen Kenitzer. "There were three people on board and they were all fatally injured." FFA could not release further details, nor the names of those on board. Textana, Inc. is a sister company of J Burns Brown Operating Co., an oiland- gas exploration company located in Havre that ranked in the top 10 gas producers for Montana in 2004, according to a Revenue and Transportation committee document. A spokesperson for J Burns Brown Operating Company confirmed the plane did go down and originally did not release the names of the people on board, citing respect for the families of the people killed. At 10 a.m. the spokesperson said the families had been notified and the names officially released. The three Havre men who died in the crash, 60 miles north of Seattle, were confirmed by Jana Sand, a family friend of one man who died in the crash — Chris Schafer. Sand contacted the Havre Daily to request information on placing an obituary. "John Brown Sr., who owns Brown petroleum, Textana petroleum and Santana petroleum; and landmen Randy McPherson and Chris Schafer both employees of Brown petroleum were all on the plane," Sand, told the Daily this morning. "They were going fishing and were going to be landing in the Seattle area. They left yesterday morning. They lost signal around 11 a.m. "It was usual for the Browns to take the plane and go on trips like this, but Chris was one of the young guys and it wasn't usual for him to get invited. He was very excited to get to go," Sand added. "Chris was a newly- wed. He and his wife, Liz, just got married on July 28. They were very much in love. She just turned 23 and she's a widow." The probable cause of the crash has not been determined, and the FAA spokesperson said it usually takes many months up to a year for the investigation to conclude.