4 dead in US small plane crash

SIOUX FALLS, South Dakota – A small plane leaving a regional airport nosedived into the ground Friday and burst into flames so powerful that there was never a chance the four people trapped inside could survive, officials said.

Witnesses described a bloody and charred scene near Sioux Falls Regional Airport. Officials declined to identify the four victims pending family notification.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Tony Molinaro said the Cessna 421-C departed Joe Foss Field for Rapid City at 2:24 p.m. Shortly after, the small, two-engine plane began experiencing problems and started circling back to the airport before it slammed into the ground, killing the pilot and three passengers.

Fire Chief Jim Sideras said investigators do not yet know what problems the plane was experiencing or whether the pilot radioed for help.

Molinaro said the FAA would investigate and forward its findings to the National Transportation Safety Board. According to NTSB data, the last aviation crash it investigated in Sioux Falls was in 1984.