A small twin-engine plane crashed into the Superstition Mountains east of Phoenix on Wednesday night and there was no apparent sign of survivors, authorities said.
Rescue crews flown in by helicopter to reach the crash site in rugged terrain reported finding two debris field on fire, suggesting that the plane broke apart on impact, the Pinal County sheriff's office said.
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer says the Rockwell AC69 had just departed from Mesa's Falcon Field when it crashed about 40 miles east of downtown Phoenix. Authorities started getting calls reporting an explosion near the peak of a mountain at about 6:30 p.m.
It was unclear how many passengers were aboard the plane, which was registered to Ponderosa Aviation Inc. in Safford, Ariz. A man who answered the phone Wednesday night at Ponderosa Aviation declined to comment on the crash and refused to identify himself.
Calls to Falcon Field, which mostly serves small, private planes, weren't immediately returned.
Kenitzer said the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board would be investigating the cause of the crash.
Rescue crews who arrived by helicopter reported finding 24-inch tires at the crash site, which would indicate a small twin-engine plane.
Pinal County sheriff's spokeswoman Angelique Graham said people who heard an explosion near the Flat Iron area close to Lost Dutchman State Park.
"People said it sounded like fireworks going off," Graham said.
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