Two Casper residents are dead after their plane crashed Saturday evening, September 20th, after takeoff from the Saratoga airport.

The Carbon County Sheriff's Office reports the 1968 Piper Cherokee crashed about a quarter-mile south of the airport.

Sheriff Jerry Colson says his office received a call about the crash on Sunday morning.

Authorities found 52-year-old pilot Kenneth Schneider and 54-year-old passenger Janet Kawakami dead at the scene.

Colson says both died on impact.

The two had left Casper on Saturday for Denver.

They were not reported missing before their plane was found.

National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration investigators are investigating the cause of the crash.

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