Father, 2 daughters Die in Montana Wilderness Plane Crash

Three members of an Alabama family are being identified as the trio that were killed when their plane crashed in the Bob Marshall Wilderness on Friday.

The Powell County Sheriff's Office received the report of a possible downed plane late in the afternoon, eventually locating the aircraft with help from Malmstrom Air Force Base and volunteers with the Montana Department of Transportation Aeronautics Division. Searchers were able to follow the weak emergency locator beacon, finding the crashed plane in the woods on Youngs Creek, northeast of Seeley Lake.

Searchers had an extremely difficult time reaching the site in the face of approaching storms and winter like conditions.

Friends at a church and an aviation service in Huntsville, Alabama identified the victims as pilot Mark Anderson, and his daughters Lainey and Ellie, who had been vacationing here in Montana and crashed overflowing the mountains on their way to Polson.

     NTSB will investigate the cause of the crash, one in a string of fatal airplane accidents in Northwest Montana in recent weeks.

Charges filed in Bitterroot crash

Ravalli County prosecutors have already filed vehicular homicide charges against a 24-year old Florence man who is accused of killing an 81-year old driver when his truck slammed into the victims car last week.

Montana Highway Patrol has said alcohol, and speeding, were factors in the crash on Highway 93 on Thursday night. The impact drove the elderly man's car off the highway where it overturned.

NBC Montana reports charges have been filed against 24-year old Anthony Richard Kelly.

Conductor killed in Columbus train accident

The National Transportation Safety Board is starting the investigation behind the death of a railway conductor who was hit by a train in Columbus Sunday. Reportedly the worker was between two trains when the accident happened just before 10 am.

Storms make for difficult cross-state travel

Multiple problems on I-90 over the weekend. The highway was closed by a jackknifed semi on Saturday morning. Then, high winds closed the freeway for several hours near Livingston.

But stormy weather was a challenge elsewhere as well. Drivers on Interstate 15, as well as I-90 had to cope with highs winds in Western Montana, and periods of very heavy rain.

Most mountain areas remain under winter weather advisories through this morning. Snow has been falling down to about 45-hundred feet with only minor accumulations. But higher country was expected to see up to a foot of new snow before this storm blows out.

RELATED: Winter Outlook Stays Consistent for Wetter, Colder Season Ahead