Authorities: DC Resident Joyce Bartoo Dead in Wyoming Plane Crash

PHOTOS: Plane crash scene in Wyoming; photo courtesy of Park County (Wyoming) Sheriff’s Office

___________

A Washington, D.C. woman, Joyce Bartoo, was among those who died in a plane crash Saturday in Wyoming, WTOP reports. The plane went down west of Cody.

The Park County Sheriff’s Office says the small twin-engine plane left the Sheridan County Airport with four people Saturday at 11 a.m.

The Sheriff’s Office says the plane deviated from its planned flight path and instead circled Yellowstone National Park, then asked air traffic control authorities for permission to change plans. The plane initially followed those plans, but then took a sharp turn and went into a steep descent, authorities say. The plane dropped below radar at 11:56 a.m.

Salt Lake City Air Traffic Control called 911, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Sheriff Scott Steward said the scene of the crash looked like a bomb had exploded. There were no survivors. “I’m convinced something catastrophic happened aboard that aircraft,” he said in a news release.

National Traffic Safety Board members are investigating the crash and the bodies were taken to Billings for autopsies.