Plane Crash Kills 3 Near Paris

Flight from NE Texas to Austin crashes after takeoff

Federal investigators will look into a plane crash south of Paris, Texas on Saturday morning that killed three men from Utah.

Late Saturday, the Department of Public Safety told NBC DFW that the victims were the pilot 49-year-old Rob Thompson and passengers 50-year-old Michael Endo and 44-year-old Michael Dale Bradley.  All three men were from the Salt Lake City area.

FAA spokesman Roland Herwig told NBC DFW that a single engine turbo prop Piper PA-46 crashed shortly before 9:00 a.m. The plane was en route from Paris Cox Field Airport to Austin.

The FAA radar lost contact with the plane 10-miles south of Paris. Lamar County Sheriff's Deputies found the wreckage a short time later. The aircraft was completely destroyed on fire. The bodies of three people were found on board.

The deceased were taken to the Collin County Medical Examiner's Office.

According the FAA registry, the plane was registered to a company in Salt Lake City, Utah.  The aircraft's owner is Celtic Bank, Incorporated.

Investigators with the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are headed to the scene to determine what caused the crash.

Paris, Texas is about 105 miles or a two-hour drive northeast from Dallas.

NBC 5's Andres Gutierrez contributed to this report.

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