SLIDELL, La.(WWL-TV) — Two people have died after a small mosquito-spraying plane crashed Tuesday night at the Slidell airport, police and fire officials confirmed.
The plane was a St. Tammany Parish mosquito control plane that was spraying the St. Tammany area earlier that day.
The crash happened around 9:30 p.m., just North of the runway, as the plane was landing.
Two mosquito control planes were flying Tuesday; the other plane landed safely after seeing the crash.
According to authorities, the scene was difficult to get to due to rough terrain, fuel that caught fire and debris. A helicopter was deployed to survey the area and two causalities were located.
Multiple agencies responded with chainsaws and ATVs.
The FAA is investigating the cause of the crash.
No further information was given on the two people who died.
This story will be updated as information becomes available.
Smith: confirmed located bodies of two pilots. Were landing when crash occured
— Ashley Rodrigue (@ashleyrWWL) April 20, 2016
Smith: FAA on way to investigate. 2 planes in air at time. One that landed successfully saw the crash happen
— Ashley Rodrigue (@ashleyrWWL) April 20, 2016
Smith: plane did not have any spray in it so had been up a while. Had to access scene from Pearl River
— Ashley Rodrigue (@ashleyrWWL) April 20, 2016
Smith: plane appears to be torn up pretty good. Lots of wreckage
— Ashley Rodrigue (@ashleyrWWL) April 20, 2016
WWL-TV