Apache Junction, Arizona — A plane crashed Saturday morning in the Hog Canyon area southeast of Flatiron in the Superstition Wilderness, the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office confirmed.

The sheriff’s office said the plane involved in the crash was a small two-seater plane. Two people were on board at the time of the accident, and both died.

The Pinal County Sheriff’s Office said the deceased pilot was identified as Simon Nulish, 45, and the passenger was identified as Stuart Gregory, 53.

Mr. Narish was COO of Merchant Services at Bank of America.

A single-engine Sokata TB-30 Epsilon plane crashed around 7:50 a.m., according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The plane took off from Mesa’s Falcon Field Airport before it crashed.

On Monday, the FAA released a preliminary Accident and Incident Report, saying the plane had crashed into the Superstition Mountains under “unknown circumstances” and was destroyed.

Authorities said several people witnessed the plane crash and that air support was able to locate the crash site.

Jack Olson lives a few miles away from where the accident happened.

“When I happened to come out onto the driveway and I could see this place quite clearly, I happened to see smoke coming from the mountains.”

Olson took pictures after the crash.

The plane crashed under unknown circumstances as part of a flight of three planes flying in formation, according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

The destination of the plane was Payson.

“The plane crashed into mountainous terrain and was destroyed in a post-crash fire,” the NTSB said.

Bill Waldock, a safety science professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Prescott, said the fires would complicate the investigation, adding that formation crashes are not as frequent as other accidents.

Waldock said communications with the FAA and plane-to-plane communications would be information to consider.

“Were they at the proper altitude? Were they well above the terrain when they were doing it?” Were they maneuvering? Were they just in formation and flying straight and level? All these kinds of things come into play here,” Waldock said.

The NTSB is leading an investigation into the crash.

NTSB officials said investigators would “record the crash site and plane, and collect available flight trajectory and radar data.”

An interim report is expected within two to three weeks.

Waldock said time was critical to investigating the accident and addressing possible causes in order to understand the accident and prevent future accidents.

“We can’t stop that accident. But we can stop the next infection from a similar cause. That’s why we do it,” Waldock said.

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