Plane crash kills two in Anhui

A small plane crashed into a street soon after taking off, killing two passengers on board, including a man from the United States and a Chinese, in Suixi county under Huaibei city, Anhui province, on May 3. There were no other injuries and cause of the accident is under investigation.

The plane, belonging to Henan George Heintz Aircraft Manufacture LLC, took off around noon from Likun Steel Structures Co Ltd after a trip from the neighboring province of Henan, and crashed into the street at 12:19 pm, causing a subsequent fire, according to Huaibei Information Office.

Fan Wenjing, director of the information office, said firefighters rushed to the scene, but the two passengers were found dead on the spot.

One of the passengers was Jason, a US citizen, and the other was Zhao Xinyu, a native of Guilin, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

According to the company's website, the Henan George Heintz Aircraft Manufacture LLC is based in Xihua county under Zhoukou city bordering Anhui. The company's liaison employee Quan Xingzheng could not be reached for comment via phone.

Fan said investigators - including civil aviation administrators - traveled from Anhui provincial capital of Hefei to Suixi at night on May 3 to investigate the cause.

Fan said they are checking whether the plane had certification and permission from the civil aviation authorities to operate.