5 killed in plane crash

ROLLING PRAIRIE, Ind. -- Federal and local authorities worked Tuesday to recover the remains of four employees of an Iowa marketing company and a pilot killed in a small plane crash in a rural area of northern Indiana, officials said.\nJeff White, spokesman for Two Rivers Marketing in Des Moines, Iowa, said the company chartered the plane to go from Ankeny, Iowa, to South Bend on Monday. The flight plan listed four males and one female on the plane, LaPorte County Chief Deputy Coroner John Sullivan said.\nInitial reports from the Federal Aviation Administration said four died in the crash that happened shortly after takeoff from the South Bend Regional Airport at about 8 p.m. Monday. The twin-engine Cessna 303 crashed in a cornfield about 10 miles southwest of South Bend in eastern LaPorte County and was found about an hour later, the FAA said.\n"I can confirm four individuals from Two Rivers Marketing on board in addition to the pilot," White said. "I cannot confirm, unfortunately, those individuals' names because we're not sure the families have received official word from the authorities."\nSullivan said some of the remains were recovered Monday night, but the search was suspended until morning because of darkness. He said a dozen deputy coroners will be scouring the crash site in an area that was about the size of a football field. Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board were also investigating.\nAll five died on impact, said Sullivan, who hoped to identify them Tuesday.\n"We will go with tattoos, possible body piercings and obviously there should be some identification at the scene, some wallets, some driver's licenses," he said. "We may have to go with DNA testing. In a deal like this you have to do the best you can."\nThe cause of the crash has yet to be determined, but officials were considering fog as a factor, Sullivan said.\nThere were no indications of trouble before the plane vanished from radar, officials said.\nPolice said those living near the crash site heard a noise that rattled windows but that no one had reported witnessing the crash.