2 dead after small plane crash in Prescott

PRESCOTT, Ariz. - Authorities say a small plane crashed and burned Monday afternoon at the Prescott Municipal Airport after it developed problems minutes after takeoff, killing both people aboard.

A spokesman for the Prescott Fire Department confirmed the fatalities. The identities of the two victims aren't immediately known.

Authorities say the Piper Comanche was registered to a Los Angeles resident, but it isn't immediately clear if that person was aboard the aircraft.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor says the single-engine plane had departed the airport for an unknown destination at 2:48 p.m. MST when it experienced ``some kind of problem'' and the pilot radioed the airport that he needed to return.

Gregor says the plane crashed short of a runaway about 2:50 p.m.

Television footage showed the charred remains of the plane in a grassy area at the east end of one the airport's runways.