PUSHMATAHA COUNTY, Okla. (KTEN) — A small plane crashed near Antlers Municipal Airport on Thursday evening.

Oklahoma Highway Patrol Capt. Scott Hampton said the aircraft went down in a wooded area around 7:45 p.m. The FAA confirmed that the pilot and two passengers died in the wreckage. The agency's preliminary statement said the plane "crashed under unknown circumstances."

The victims — all residents of Antlers — were identified by OHP as:

  • Brian Davis, 62, who was piloting the aircraft
  • Michael Davis, 23
  • Kelly Thompson, 21

OHP troopers were guarding the crash site until federal investigators arrive at the scene, 150 yards from East 1960 Road, between North 4125 Lane and Hall Cemetery Road.

The site is just over a mile from Antlers Municipal Airport.

The National Transportation Safety Board identified the aircraft involved in the crash as a single-engine Foutz-Davis DA-3. According to online records, the plane was built in 1977 and is designed to carry as many as four passengers. The DA-3 is a stretched version of the DA-2, a prototype of which first flew in 1966, according to Wikipedia.

"You never really want to wake up to these kind of tragedies," said Jeff Lucas with the Pushmataha County Chamber of Commerce. "It's really hard on a small community; we're so so small we run into each other at the grocery store, the restaurants."

Lucas said he was at the local market shortly after the crash Thursday night and a woman preparing food to take to the emergency workers at the site.

"It shows how strong we are," he said.

A GoFundMe page has been established to raise money for the family of Kelly Thompson.

This is a developing story; refresh this page for additional details as they become available.