Two men from Northern Virginia were killed Sunday morning in the crash of a twin-engine plane that took off from Manassas Regional Airport in Virginia on the way to South Carolina.
The plane crashed into a densely wooded area in Fluvanna County, Virginia, shortly before 9 a.m., according to state police.
Callers told 911 they saw a low-flying plane and then heard what sounded like an explosion. The Fluvanna County Sheriff's Office, Virginia Conservation Police and Virginia State Police responded and found a burning plane in the woods off of Miles Jackson Road. Several fire companies rushed to the scene to put out the intense fire.
The people who died were the pilot, 63-year-old John Latham of Haymarket, and his co-pilot, 73-year-old Niiben Ayivorh of Burke, police said. Their bodies were being taken to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Richmond.
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Family friends said Latham and Ayivorh had flown together for years.
The plane was privately owned, police said. It was not immediately known what type of aircraft it was, but an image of the wreckage shared by state police showed it was a small plane.
There was a light rain at the time of the crash.
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State police, the FAA and the NTSB are investigating.
