DE QUEEN, Ark. - The Federal Aviation Administration, Arkansas State Police and Sevier County Sheriff's Office are investigating a fatal plane crash that happened Sunday in a cow pasture near De Queen, Ark.
One man was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident and another man was seriously injured and taken by ambulance to a Nashville, Arkansas, hospital. He was later taken to a Little Rock hospital, said Sevier County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Chad Dowdle. The man's condition was not known late Monday.
Neither of the men's names had been released by police, but both men were Sevier County residents, Dowdle said.
Officials with the FAA visited the site of the accident Monday afternoon, where the crash still remains under investigation. A preliminary report by the National Traffic and Safety Administration is expected to be released within two weeks, according to local law enforcement. A spokesman for the FAA could not immediately be reached for comment.
The white and maroon Cessna two-engine plane, which is reportedly registered to Highway 71 Trucking LLC, crashed about 4:45 p.m. on Sunday in a cow pasture on private property, west of De Queen. The location is less than a mile from the Sevier County Airport on U.S. Highway 70 West.
The landowners reportedly saw the plane go down and called 911. The plane "was still smoking and burning" when the landowners reached the scene, Dowdle said. The owners then worked to put the fire out until the Sevier County and De Queen firefighters responded. Several residents in the area heard the plane making sputtering noises shortly before the crash.
Dowdle said the sheriff's office was not sure where the plane's destination was or where it had taken off from.
Deputies remained on location overnight Sunday to protect the scene.