The Latest: Plane crash kills 2 couples leaving on vacation

The Latest on a plane that crashed on a Utah highway and killed four aboard (all times local):

6:20 p.m.

Authorities and friends say two Utah couples leaving on vacation were killed when their small plane crashed on a highway.

The Utah Department of Public Safety says those killed in the Wednesday crash were 48-year-old Layne Clarke and his 42-year-old wife, Diana Clarke, and 45-year-old Perry Huffaker and his 42-year-old wife, Sarah Huffaker.

Friend Jeff Henderson says Layne Clarke was piloting the Beech A36 Bonanza as the two couples departed for a trip. He says Clarke was a business owner who had gotten his pilot's license about five years ago.

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating why the plane crashed shortly after takeoff from a municipal airport in the city of Ogden, about 40 miles north of Salt Lake City.

2 p.m.

Authorities say a small plane crashed on a northern Utah highway, killing four people aboard, snarling traffic and leaving behind blackened wreckage.

No injuries were reported on the ground Wednesday.

The Utah Department of Public Safety confirmed the deaths north of Salt Lake City but didn't immediately release further information on the victims or the cause of the crash.

The Federal Aviation Administration says the plane took off from a nearby municipal airport and crashed about a half-mile away.

The crash closed most lanes of Interstate 15 in Riverdale, about 35 miles north of Salt Lake City.

Truck driver Obdulio Ruiz tells the Standard-Examiner newspaper in the city of Ogden that it appeared the pilot was trying to land the plane on the interstate just before the crash.