Beloved Alabama flight instructor killed in Montana plane crash with father, sister was ‘exceptional and skilled’

An Alabama woman killed in a plane crash alongside her father and sister is being remembered as a dedicated flight instructor.

Lainey Anderson was a certified flight instructor at Sanders Flight Training Center in Jasper.

The crash happened while Anderson, her father, Huntsville pilot Mark Anderson and younger sister, Ellie, were en route to a family vacation.

Misty Anderson, the victims’ wife and mother and a Huntsville banker, was on a commercial flight to meet her family in Montana.

Lainey was a graduate of Auburn University professional flight program and a was a member of Alpha Chi Omega sorority.

“Lainey was an exceptional and skilled aviator and a beloved flight instructor at our Jasper campus,” Sanders Aviation posted on Facebook. “She was dedicated to her craft and students.”

“Her Sanders family will remember her with love and admiration,” the post read. “God Bless you and keep you, Lainey.”

Ellie was a senior at Huntsville High School.

“We are deeply saddened by the loss of a cherished member of the HHS Dance Team and a friend to many of our band and color guard students,” according to a social media post from Huntsville High School Band.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with her family, friends, teammates, and classmates during this difficult time.”

About 4:30 p.m. Friday, the Powell County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a possible downed aircraft.

The last known position was in the Bob Marshall Wilderness in Montana’s northern Powell County, said Sheriff Gavin Roselles, who is also the county’s coroner.

“Air resources were deployed from Malstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls and continued to search until around midnight.”

About 9 a.m. Saturday, Roselles said, a volunteer aircraft operating under the command of the Montana Department of Transportation Aeronautics Division, working off a weak ELT signal, located the twin-engine plane.

The scene was turned over to the U.S. Air Force which also had helicopters operating in the area, the sheriff said.

The plane was located in a remote, wooded area in Youngs Creek in the Bob Marshall Wilderness- North East of Seeley Lake.

Members of the Powell County Coroner’s Office, Missoula County Search and Rescue, the Seeley Lake Rural Fire Department with assistance from the Montana DNRC, arrived on scene around 4 p.m.

Anderson and his daughters were pronounced dead at the scene.

The sheriff’s office turned the investigation over to the FAA and NTSB.