Authorities: 3 dead in midair plane crash in Wyo.

[August 11, 2008]  ROCK SPRINGS, Wyo. (AP) -- Two single-engine planes collided in midair Sunday over a remote area a few miles from an airport in southwestern Wyoming, killing all three people aboard, authorities said.

Local officials received 911 calls of an "explosion in the sky" shortly after noon, said Detective Dick Blust, a spokesman for the Sweetwater County Sheriff's Department.

Scorched debris was scattered over 5 acres northwest of the airport.

One of the planes was a Cirrus SR22 that took off from Polson, Mont., with two people aboard, said Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration. It was headed to the Rock Springs airport and was communicating with controllers.

The other plane was a Cessna 172 with only the pilot aboard, he said. It was not communicating with controllers, a common practice among private pilots flying in clear weather, Gregor said. Other details were not immediately available.

[Associated Press]

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