Missing Plane’S Occupants Named

Tue., April 14, 1998

From Staff

Two bankers, one a former airline pilot, were identified Monday as the occupants of small plane believed to have crashed in the backcountry of northwestern Montana.

Search coordinators, meanwhile, said numerous sorties failed to spot any wreckage and they planned to continue the effort today.

As the aerial search for the Piper Malibu expanded, Security State Bank & Trust in Polson identified the pilot as the bank’s president, Douglas J. Hanson, 48. His lone passenger was Robert Bowers, 42, a bank vice president and son of the late University of Montana President Richard Bowers.

Hanson and Bowers were in a single-engine plane that fell off radar screens at about 2 a.m. Saturday, while flying to Polson from Madison, Wis. The men had been at a bank in Evansville, Wis., to install computer software designed by Hanson.

Searchers have looked for the plane in a rugged, mountainous area of northwestern Montana and on Monday expanded the search to the south, farther into the Mission and Swan mountain ranges.

Local journalism is essential.

Give directly to The Spokesman-Review's Northwest Passages community forums series -- which helps to offset the costs of several reporter and editor positions at the newspaper -- by using the easy options below. Gifts processed in this system are tax deductible.

Meet Our Journalists

Jesse Tinsley

Meet Jesse Tinsley. As a certified drone pilot, this veteran Spokesman-Review photographer often can be seen capturing beautiful aerial photographs of our region. Sometimes though, the job requires getting down with the dogs.
Jim Meehan

Jim Meehan is no stranger to Zag Nation. As the lead writer covering the Gonzaga men’s basketball team, he tells the stories behind the game and gets fans a bit closer to their favorite players.
Molly Quinn

There is no artist in Spokane like Molly Quinn. Her whimsical style is instantly recognizable to readers of The Spokesman-Review. She has painted gorgeous illustrations that instantly elevate the journalism accompanying it. She brings to life the stories that defy photography. She makes our pages better.
Rob Curley

Spokesman-Review editor Rob Curley loves to talk with people and learn about their lives, whether it's a best-selling author or a stranger he meets downtown on his walk to lunch. It's that inquisitive nature combined with a playful sense of storytelling that helps make our newspaper different than most.

Missing Plane’S Occupants Named

Jesse Tinsley

Jim Meehan

Molly Quinn

Rob Curley

64-year-old man dies in Shoshone County crash

FBI vows ‘thorough investigation’ after deadly shooting at In-N-Out in Twin Falls

This day in history: Spotlight on Wallace, a town 'on the upswing' in 1976