By AP/KWMU
Point Lookout, Mo. – Five people died Monday after a fiery single-engine plane crash in southwest Missouri.
Taney County officials say the six-passenger plane arrived Saturday at the College of the Ozarks from Fort Worth, Texas. It took off about 9:45 Monday morning from the Point Lookout school, leaving black skidmarks on the runway.
Investigators say that indicates the pilot tried to abort the take-off.
The plane plunged into a ravine just off the runway, broke apart and caught fire amid a thick stand of trees.
Four of the victims were dead at the scene. The fifth died a short time later in a Springfield hospital.
Officials from the National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA are sending investigators to the scene.