In Search for Missing Plane, a Smartwatch Comes Through

Hidden deep in Montana's forests, a downed plane went undetected—until searchers picked up a signal from a victim's smartwatch, guiding them to the tragic scene. According to the Gallatin County Sheriff's Office, rescuers homed in on the wreckage just south of the town of West Yellowstone after receiving location data from a smartwatch belonging to one of the three people on board, per CNN. The small, single-engine Piper Cherokee, which took off just before midnight on Thursday, was carrying Rodney Conover, 60, and Madison Conover, 23, both from Tennessee, along with Kurt Enoch Robey, 55, from Utah. One was a passenger and two were flight crew members, per NBC News. All three lost their lives.

The Department of Transportation's Aero Division notified local authorities about the missing plane on Friday afternoon. Two search planes were dispatched within minutes. Using the smartwatch's transmitted coordinates, crews spotted the downed aircraft "in dense timber," the sheriff's office said. Ground teams then trekked through the rugged landscape to confirm the fatalities and recover the bodies, which were transferred to the county coroner. At the time of the crash, the area was experiencing wind gusts of 20mph or more, which may have played a role, though the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are still investigating the cause.