Afton, Minnesota, plane crash: Authorities identify 2 men killed

AFTON, Minn. (FOX 9) - The two men who were killed in a plane crash near a house in Afton, Minnesota, on Saturday have been identified. 

The Ramsey County Medical Examiner's Office identified the two men as William Patrick Moore, 85, of White Bear Lake, and Mitchell Jay Zahler, 68, of Baytown Township. 

The plane crash happened in a residential area on the 15000 block of Afton Hills Drive South. Washington County officials say dispatch started receiving calls around 9:43 a.m. reporting a possible explosion. At the scene, crews located a small airplane fully engulfed in flames near a residential home. 

The plane had just taken off from Lake Elmo Airport before the crash. 

"It did sound like the engine was maybe kind of stalling out, kind of coming and going, like they were trying to put the gas on or something, and then it just kind of completely stopped," neighbor Lisa told FOX 9. "When I looked outside of our house, I actually saw a plane in the sky, going straight down. And then a big cloud of black smoke along with the loud crash sound."

The plane that crashed was a Globe GC1 airplane, according to the National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the incident. In Monday's update, the Washington County Sheriff's Office says the incident, including the cause of the crash, remains under investigation.