Dec. 22 (UPI) -- A small four-passenger plane crashed shortly after take off from a Texas airport, killing two people on board, officials said.
The plane took off from the Grand Prairie Municipal Airport at approximately 2:45 p.m. Monday but was only in the air about five minutes before it crashed, Grand Prairie Fire Department Chief Robert Fite told reporters during a press conference.
The identities of the deceased were not released.
Fite said witnesses to the crash said the plane hit a telephone pole before it "struggled" for about 500 feet where it hit the ground multiple times before crashing into the side of a pickup truck. The plane came to a stop in the parking lot of a Sonic Drive-In restaurant where it burst into flames.
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"The plane is hardly recognizable because of the fire," he said.
The passenger of the pickup truck struck by the plane was transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Officials said the plane had traveled roughly 40 miles south from Denton to the Grand Prairie airport where it landed before taking off again, its final destination unknown.
The Federal Aviation Administration was now leading the investigation and due to the fatalities the National Transportation Safety Board would also expected to participate, Fite said.
The cause of the crash was unknown.
Fite explained witnesses said the plane was in "obvious distress" and was rapidly descending when it hit the pole.
"We do not know if this was an emergency landing or a catastrophic disaster, we just don't know," he said.
