UPDATE, Dec. 1, 1:30 p.m. The identities of the victims have been confirmed. See below.
Authorities said the two who died in the crash have been identified as David Rotman, 70, of Lonoke, and Lucas Parker, 44, of Conway.
Chief Izard County Deputy Sheriff Charley Melton said he had been told earlier on Monday that Memphis had lost contact with a small plane on their radar.
Apparently, the flight had left Mountain Home and was on its way to Walnut Ridge.
UPDATE, Dec. 1, 11:05 a.m. The Associated Press has updated this story. See below.
FRANKLIN, Ark. (AP) — Officials say two people were found dead after a small plane crashed in rural Arkansas.
Emergency management officials in Izard County say the crash happened Monday afternoon in the town of Franklin, about 100 miles northeast of Little Rock.
The two-seater plane had been traveling between two small airports in northern Arkansas.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash of the plane, which was registered to Arkansas Pilot Development.
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A Horseshoe Bend newspaper has reported that two people aboard a small airplane died in a crash in northern Izard County on Monday afternoon.
Authorities were summoned to the Horseshoe Bend area shortly before 3 p.m. by a 911 caller who saw a low-flying small airplane and then heard a boom, according to a Pacesetting Times post on their social media. Several other 911 callers reported hearing a loud boom, the post said.
After Izard County Chief Deputy Sheriff Charley Melton formed a search party of officers, first responders, and Horseshoe Bend Rescue, the Times report said the group was led to an area to search by the downed plane’s emergency beacon alert.
Around 4:15 p.m., the search team found the plane wreckage in a wooded area behind California Drive.
The names of the pilot and passenger who perished in the crash have not yet been released. The flight path of the plane indicated it was flying across the area to land at Walnut Ridge, according to the post. Federal Aviation Administration representatives are scheduled to be on the scene Tuesday.
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