Authorities reported that a jet went down in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, minutes after taking off from Grand Strand Airport, killing at least five persons.
The plane crashed two miles northwest of the airport, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said Sunday.
The victims are still being identified by the Horry County Coroner’s Office. Once everyone has been located and their next of kin informed, they will release the information, North Myrtle Beach Police Public Information Officer Pat Wilkinson told CNN.
The NTSB and Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the crash.
Four people perished at the scene, and one who was pulled from the plane’s wreckage and sent to a hospital before passing away from their injuries, Horry County coroner Tamara Willard told the reporters.
The plane, a Piper PA-32R-300, took off at 11:02am and crashed at 11:03am, according to FlightAware data.
Several of the dead are connected, and their families are foreign, according to sources in the local media.
Police said that meanwhile, the road where the wreckage landed was closed and reopened only Monday night. The crash took place along Pete Dye Drive just off Gray Heron Road.
Local sources said that the plane’s N5524F registration number showed that it belonged to Joseph T. Farnese, a native of New Jersey. According to WBTW News 13, it was not apparent whether he was in control of the aircraft or on board.