Four killed in Chile plane crash

SANTIAGO, Chile – All four people aboard a small airplane were killed when it plunged to the ground at an airport northwest of the Chilean capital, police said Sunday.

The plane crashed at the Chacabuco airport, some 50 kilometers (30 miles) from Santiago. General Richardo Soler, head of the regional police, told the daily La Tercera said that officials will probe the cause of the crash.

The victims were two adult men, including the pilot; a younger man and a youth. All died instantly, Solar said.

The airplane, belonging to the Universitario aviation club, left the airport late Saturday, but began to smoke soon after and slammed into the ground and burst into flames, witnesses said.