Four die in Oregon plane crash

HILLSBORO, Ore. – A small plane crashed near a suburban Portland airport late Tuesday afternoon, killing all four people on board, authorities said.

The privately owned plane crashed shortly after takeoff in a field across a street from the end of the Hillsboro Airport runway, said Connie King, a spokeswoman for the Hillsboro Fire Department.

The names of the crash victims were not immediately released. It was not known where they were headed.

News helicopters circling overhead showed the wreckage of what appeared to be a Mitsubishi MU-2, a type of aircraft used by businesses for commuter flights and light cargo.

A witness who was in her car waiting to make a turn at an intersection at the northwest corner of the airport described it as “the worst thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”

“I was saying to myself, ‘Pull up! Pull up!’ ” Sharon Van Mechelen told Northwest Cable News in Seattle.

“It just looked like it was out of control.”

Van Mechelen said she did not hear any engine noise before the crash.

The cause of the crash had not been determined, but Federal Aviation Administration investigators were at the scene, King said.