FOSTORIA, Ohio (WWJ) - Police are investigating the cause of a single-engine plane crash in Northern Ohio that left two people dead on Tuesday night.
According to WTOL, authorities were notified before 11 p.m. Tuesday evening when a neighbor dialed 9-1-1 and reported hearing a loud crash that came from a field near their home in Fostoria, about 40 miles south of Toledo.
"We got a 911 call at the sheriff's office that a lady called and said she heard a loud boom and it sounded like a plane crashed behind her house," said Seneca County Sheriff Fred Stevens via WTOL.
Seneca County Sheriff's Office and the Fostoria Police Department responded to the scene off of Crestview Drive and found a small plane -- a Piper Saratoga -- wrecked in a wooded area.
Officials confirmed two bodies found at the site of the crash were pilot Shane Alan Halbrook, 59, and Michael D. Wright, 51 -- both were pronounced dead on scene.
"I want to thank all of the agencies who helped with the crash site last night. It was not an easy scene to get to nor was it an easy scene to deal with once found," Seneca County Sheriff Frederick Stevens said in a statement on the department's Facebook page.
"...Our prayers and condolences go out to the families of the two victims,"
The men were flying from Illinois to Findlay, officials said. It is not known what happened to cause the crash at this time.
Deputies from Seneca County and the Ohio State Highway Patrol are expected to be on-scene until FAA investigators arrive to launch an official investigation.
