Small plane crashes at airport, catches fire; 2 are killed

MANSFIELD, Mass. – Massachusetts State Police say two people died after a small plane crashed and caught fire at Mansfield Municipal Airport.

Police say the crash occurred shortly after 12:30 p.m. Saturday. State police and the Federal Aviation Administration will investigate, and the National Transportation Safety Board will determine the cause.

An NTSB spokesman says an investigator will be on the site early Sunday to examine the aircraft and document the scene.

The FAA says the plane was a Cessna 172.

The airport is about 45 miles south of Boston.

NTSB’s aviation accident database shows there two non-fatal incidents at the airport in 2011 involving an experimental plane that veered off the runway and in 2004 involving a student pilot who taxied the plane to a closed runway.