Four die in US plane crash

FOUR people have been killed and five others injured after a small aircraft lost power after take-off in the US and crashed into a building while trying to return to the airport.

Only the pilot was in the plane, but it was not immediately clear how many people were in the building at Wichita Mid-Continent Airport, Kansas.

Four people in the building died and four are unaccounted after the crash, but a search was halted at midday after part of the structure collapsed.

Wichita fire marshal Brad Crisp said the search would resume as soon as the building was deemed stable.

He added: “We understand that this is a very difficult time, especially for folks who have family members who are working out here and they don’t know.”

The plane, identified as a twin-engine Beechcraft King Air, crashed into a building that FlightSafety International uses to train pilots, company spokesman Steve Phillips said.

It appeared to strike the top of the building and start a fire. Flames and towering plumes of smoke from the wreckage could be seen for miles around the city.

Ryan Weatherby said he and several other employees at Yingling Aviation, across the street from the airport, ran outside when they heard the crash and saw rolling black smoke and wreckage.

He said: “It wasn’t that loud. It was more like a screech or something.”