Medina-registered plane crashes in Montana; two die

A plane registered to a capital-investment partnership in Medina crashed in south-central Montana on Saturday afternoon, killing two people on board.

Killed were Jeffrey M. Harbers, 54, of Medina, and pilot Jason Barton, 31, of Yukon, Okla. Harbers owned a ranch near Big Timber.

The PC-12/47 single-engine turboprop plane is registered to JMH Capital LLC in Medina, according to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) database.

The plane took off from Big Timber Airport in rural Sweet Grass County early Saturday afternoon and crashed shortly thereafter, catching fire and killing the plane's only two passengers.

The plane crashed about one mile east of the airport, located just south of Interstate 90 between Butte and Billings, according to the Sweet Grass County Sheriff's Office.

Wreckage was strewn over a large area on private property.

The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash.

Nathan Hurst: 206-464-2112 or nhurst@seattletimes.com

The Associated Press contributed to this report.