By Associated Press - Saturday, February 25, 2017

BUTTE, Mont. (AP) - The owner of a Butte hockey team and his wife walked away with only minor injuries from a small plane crash near the Stevensville Airport.

The Montana Standard reported (https://bit.ly/2lHilnu ) Butte Cobras owner Michael Burks said the plane started losing altitude when it had a mechanical problem shortly after takeoff on Thursday.

Burks was piloting Beech 36 Bonanza aircraft. He says he could have continued on course but risked hitting a house on the east side of the airport. So instead he veered over an open field, where the plane came down wing first, igniting a small fire that soon burned out.



Burks sustained a scratch to his leg. His wife, Kiomi Glenn Burks, received a few stitches to the side of her head.

The Federal Aviation Administration was investigating.

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Information from: The Montana Standard, https://www.mtstandard.com

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