The pilot, his wife and their son, all of Fort Worth, had just left a monthly aviation meeting with friends Saturday and planned to fly back to Fort Worth from near Kent, Texas, The Dallas Morning News reported Sunday.

Shelley Bradley said she noticed the plane appeared to be in trouble as it lost airspeed.

"He took off and the wind changed," Bradley said. "He should have banked to the right, but he banked to the left."

The pilot, she said, tried to correct the direction of the plane as it plummeted.

"He was flapping his wings as if he was saying goodbye, but then we realized he was in trouble," Bradley said.

Authorities are investigating the cause of the crash. The names of the victims were not released.