Boise Plane Crash Kills Crew Members

A plane crash at the city airport Monday claimed the lives of two crew members aboard a cargo DC-3.

The Desert Air transport plane crashed at the Boise Municipal Airport as it was taking off at about 6:30 p.m.

“I heard an eyewitness who said they saw flame coming out of what they thought was an engine and that it was trying to come back to the airport,” airport manager Jim Anderson said.

The pilot apparently called the airport tower before the plane crashed just east of the airport runways in a muddy field.

By the time emergency crews arrived, it already was engulfed in fire.

A Desert Air spokeswoman in Utah said the company would not have any comments until today.

Rescue crews and representatives from the Federal Aviation Administration were on hand to determine what happened. The plane was contracted out with Emery Worldwide. Officials said they thought the right engine had caught fire.