2 Kansans die when single-engine plane crashes in southwest Missouri

Authorities say two people from Kansas have died in a small plane crash in southwest Missouri.

Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory said in an email that the single-engine Piper Cherokee went down Sunday night in a pasture about 1 mile northwest of the Branson West Municipal Airport in Missouri.

Stone County Sheriff Doug Rader says the two people aboard the plane were killed. The man and woman were from Gardner, Kansas. Rader says they were meeting family in the Branson area. Their names weren’t immediately released.

Cory described the circumstances of the crash as unknown. She says the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate.

This story was originally published December 18, 2017 at 9:30 AM with the headline "2 Kansans die when single-engine plane crashes in southwest Missouri."