Five employees of environmental consulting firm CTEH died when the small Beechcraft plane they were travelling in crashed near a factory in Little Rock, Arkansas, on Wednesday shortly after take-off.
The twin-engine plane crashed outside an industrial area in Little Rock, 1.5 km south of Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport, shortly after take-off from runway 18. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said five people were on board the plane.
The Beechcraft B200 Super King registered N55PC had departed Little Rock Airport and was heading to John Glenn Columbus International Airport in Columbus, Ohio, the FAA said.
CTEH, a North Little Rock-based environmental consulting firm, said the five people on board the plane – including the pilot – were its employees. A company spokesperson said employees were responding to an explosion at an Ohio metals plant this week that killed one worker and sent more than a dozen to hospital.
The crash happened as a line of thunderstorms that the National Weather Service said included wind gusts of 40 mph (64 km/h) moved through the Little Rock area. Nearby residents said they saw an intense fire following the crash.
The plane crash at the Little Rock airport occurred with a line of showers that were moving quickly east with strong winds out of the west northwest. At the time of the crash (12:02 PM), Adams Field recorded a wind gust of 46 MPH.
NTSB investigators will determine cause. #arwx pic.twitter.com/SYO2rMs4lu
— James Bryant (@KATVJames) February 22, 2023
