All nine members of an extended Idaho family, who were killed in a plane crash in South Dakota on Saturday while on their way home from a hunting trip, have been identified.
Travis Garza, the president of the wellness company Kyani, said in a Facebook post Sunday that the crash near Chamberlain Saturday afternoon killed brothers and founders Jim and Kirk Hansen.
Garza said the crash also killed their father, Jim Hansen Sr; Kirk Hansen’s children, Stockton and Logan; his sons-in-law, Kyle Taylor and Tyson Dennert; and Jim Hansen’s son, Jake, and grandson, Houston.
Garza identified the injured as Kirk’s son, Josh, and Jim’s son, Matt, and son-in-law, Thomas Long. All three were hospitalized.
The extended family of 12 (all pictured) who went on a hunting trip in South Dakota before a fatal plane crash that left nine of them dead, and three fighting for their lives have been identified
Jim Hansen Jr (left) and his brother Kirk (right), died when their plane went down in a field near Chamberlain, South Dakota, on the way back from a hunting trip
Kirk Hansen’s children, Stockton (right) and Logan, were killed when the plane went down in a heavy snowstorm
Kirk sons-in-law, Kyle Taylor (right) and Tyson Dennert (left) were also killed in the crash
The Hansens were executives with Kyani, which markets nutritional, health and wellness products, as well as with petroleum products distributor Conrad & Bischoff and KJ’s Super Stores.
The group had been on a hunting trip to South Dakota, one of the nation’s top destinations for pheasants, when their plane crashed, according to East Idaho News.
A photo showed the family posing together after their hunt.
Jim Hansen Sr was also killed in the crash
Brian Wood, owner of a funeral home in Idaho Falls, lamented the deaths on Facebook.
He called the Hansens ‘pillars of our community’ and wrote that they had offered many times over the years to help pay expenses for someone who might not be able to afford it.
‘Our community has a dark cloud over it now,’ Wood wrote. ‘They will never know the many lives they touched.’
Twelve people were aboard the Pilatus PC-12 bound for Idaho Falls when it crashed within a mile after takeoff in Chamberlain about 12.30pm on Saturday, National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Peter Knudson said.
Federal investigators – one from Washington, DC, and two from the Chicago area – likely would reach the crash site on Monday, Knudson said.
Local authorities were guarding the site on Sunday.
Chamberlain and parts of South Dakota were under a winter storm warning Saturday until midday Sunday, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
The NWS said ahead of the weekend storm that the blowing snow ‘could significantly reduce visibility’.
Brule County emergency manager Katheryn Benton said planes were unable to land at Chamberlain at the time of the crash.
The state’s attorney office said in a statement following the crash: ‘The men and women of law enforcement, first responders and medical professionals should be commended in their heroic actions to rescue the victims in extreme weather conditions.’
A file picture shows a Pilatus PC-12 single-engine aircraft similar to the one involved in the crash, in which nine people were killed
The Pilatus PC-12 was carrying 12 people and had taken off at the Chamberlain Municipal Airport and was heading to Idaho Falls, Idaho
The aircraft came down in a cornfield in rural Brule County, south of Chamberlain around 12.30pm on Saturday
Weather will be among several factors investigators will review, although no cause for the crash has been determined, Knudson said.
The Hansen family also issued a statement Sunday evening.
‘The outpouring of love and expressions of concern for the welfare of the Hansen, Dennert, and Naylor families in the aftermath of the tragic accident on Nov. 30, 2019, have been overwhelming.
‘The families wish to express their deepest gratitude for the numerous friends, family and Business Partners who have reached out with support, prayers and best wishes during this trying time,’ the statement reads.
‘The legacy of Jim Hansen, Kirk Hansen and their father, Jim Hansen Sr., will be preserved and will flourish through their families and established Business Partners today, tomorrow and into the future.’