2 dead after small plane crashes east of the Twin Cities
AFTON, Minn. — Two people are dead after a small plane crashed east of the Twin Cities on Saturday morning.
According to the Washington County Sheriff's Office, the crash occurred shortly before 9:45 a.m. near the 15000 block of Afton Hills Boulevard South. Several 911 calls were made by neighbors reporting "what sounded like a small explosion," officials said.
When first responders arrived, they found a small aircraft that had crashed in the yard of a residence near an attached garage. The plane was fully engulfed in flames, officials said.
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After fire crews extinguished the blaze, they located the bodies of two men, later identified as 85-year-old William Patrick Moore of White Bear Lake and 68-year-old Mitchell Jay Zahler of Baytown Township.
Moore's wife, Vicky, told WCCO the two men were headed to a museum in Granite Falls.
Lisa lives just a few homes away from where the crash happened. She did not feel comfortable going on camera but said she couldn't believe her eyes when she looked outside her window.
"I actually saw a plane in the sky going straight down," Lisa recalled.
According to the National Transportation Safety Board, the model of the plane is a Global GC1.
The Federal Aviation Administration and NTSB are continuing to investigate the crash.