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News / Severe Weather
Company founders and relatives killed in South Dakota plane crash amid 'extreme weather conditions'
By Brandon Buckingham, AccuWeather Meteorologist & Chaffin Mitchell, AccuWeather staff writer
Updated Aug 7, 2020 2:19 PM EDT
A snowstorm caused extremely low visibility in many spots, such as in Fort Collins, Colorado, on Nov. 30.
Nine people were killed in a plane crash near Chamberlain, South Dakota, including two children and the pilot, authorities say. The three survivors were taken to Sioux Falls and are in critical condition.
According to Travis Garza, president of wellness company Kyani, the company's two founders were among the crash victims. The other seven men and women who died were their relatives.
Garza's Facebook post identified the two founders as Jim and Kirk Hansen. The relatives killed in the crash were Jim's father, son and grandson along with Kirk's children and sons-in-law.
Garza also identified another three individuals who were injured in the crash. They are Kirk's son, Jim's son and Jim's son-in-law.
Kyani founders, Kirk and Jim Hansen, were two of the nine victims from Sunday’s fatal plane crash in South Dakota. (Photo/Facebook Kyani Inc.)
Due to harsh wintry conditions on Sunday, federal investigators were prevented from reaching the site of the crash, according to The Associated Press. Peter Knudson with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said the plane crashed within a mile of takeoff.
The single-engine Pilatus PC-12 was headed to Idaho Falls, Idaho with twelve people on board when the crash occurred around 12:30 p.m. on Saturday. East Idaho News reported that the group had been on a hunting trip.
At the time of the crash, snow was falling at up to an inch an hour and visibility was less than a mile in South Dakota, the National Weather Service in Sioux Falls posted on Twitter.
"The men and women of law enforcement, first responders and medical professionals should be commended in their heroic actions to rescue the victims in the extreme weather conditions," Brule County States Attorney Theresa Maule Rossow said in a statement.
Chamberlain, and much of South Dakota, was under a winter storm warning and experiencing near-blizzard conditions around the time of the crash on Saturday afternoon. Nearby in Pierre, South Dakota, wind gusts of 41 mph were observed around the time of the crash.
Knudson said that weather will be among several factors investigators will review, according to the AP.
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