Idaho pilot, 30, is killed instantly as her plane crashes into potato processing plant

Idaho pilot, 30, is killed instantly as her plane crashes into potato processing plant

An experienced female pilot was killed instantly after her plane crashed into a potato processing plant with a large chimney next to a rural airport in Idaho.

Brittney Infanger, 30, was flying UPS packages from Salt Lake City, Utah, to Burley, Idaho, when the tragedy took place last week.

Around 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, 90 minutes into her flight, Brittney’s single-engine 208B plane crashed into the Gem State Processing Plant in Heyburn, Idaho.

Brittney, described as a ‘well-respected pilot beyond her years,’ had more than 11 years of flying experience around Utah and Idaho.

Her distraught father, Jim Bob Infanger, has said Brittney knew the area well and flew to Burley International Airport all the time. He blamed a hazardous chimney on the Gem State Processing Plant for the deadly crash – and called for authorities to close the nearby landing strip.

‘There’s a 60-foot chimney sticking out of the of the food processing plant – no lights on it, dead center – straight across the runway. So whenever you come in, you have to fly over the top of this and drop down,’ Jim Bob told local news outlet EastIdahonews.com.

‘The airport needs to be closed, period,’ Jim Bob said in the aftermath of the accident. ‘I’m a pilot myself and…many pilots have told me how unsafe the Burley Airport is and how they’ve begged the county to relocate it.’

‘They’ve allowed this potato plant to continue to expand and this chimney comes on and has a huge amount of steam. If the wind is blowing…you fly right into this wall of steam.’

The Burley Airport is on the bank of the Snake River. On the other side of the river is the Gem State Processing Plant. Jim Bob has said Brittney might have hit a bird in her way down when approaching the airport.

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