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4 dead, 5 injured in KS airport plane crash

Posted at 12:20 PM, Oct 30, 2014
and last updated 2014-10-30 13:58:28-04

Four people are dead after a small plane crashed into the roof of a training center at Mid-Continent Airport in Wichita, according to reports.

AlertPage reported three of the dead were located in a flight simulator, and one on the roof. A tweet from the airport's twitter account said walls and ceilings had collapsed in the building after it caught fire.

Plumes of thick, dark smoke were seen in the sky immediately following the crash. It took firefighters several minutes to get the fire under control, Wichita Fire Chief Ronald D. Blackwelll told television station KSNW.

Five others were injured in the crash, with at least three in critical condition, according to reports.

Blackwell told media the pilot was the only person inside the plane, and those dead were inside the building.

The FAA said in a statement the plane was a twin-engine Beechcraft King Air, and the pilot had reported losing engine power shortly after takeoff from the airport. It crashed while attempting to return to the runway.

About 100 people were inside the building when the crash occurred, according to KWCH12 in Wichita. It was evacuated.