MARIETTA, Ohio (AP) — A small plane crashed into a car dealership parking lot near the border of Ohio and West Virginia early Tuesday, killing two people on board and sparking a large fire.
The crash of the 1974 Beechcraft Air King E90 in Marietta, Ohio, was reported about 7:15 a.m., according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol. The pilot and another person on board were killed. The crash damaged several vehicles at the dealership and sparked a fire that sent dark plumes of smoke spewing into the air, but no one on the ground was injured. It wasn’t known if anyone was in the dealership at the time of the crash.
The plane had apparently departed about 30 minutes earlier from John Glenn International Airport in Ohio, but it was not immediately clear where it was headed. The two victims — Eric S. Seevers, 45, of Parkersburg, West Virginia, and Timothy F. Gifford, 49, of Orient, Ohio — were the only people in the plane, authorities said, though they did not say which one was piloting the aircraft.
The cause of the crash has not yet been determined. The crash will be investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.
Marietta is along the Ohio River on the border between Ohio and West Virginia.
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