2 killed in small plane crash in Greece

A single-engine aircraft crashed in mainland Greece on Monday, killing the pilot and a passenger on board, reported Xinhua, quoting the Greek national news agency AMNA.

The plane crashed and caught fire in a small community on the outskirts of the city of Pyrgos in the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece.

Firefighters found the pilot and the passenger unconscious, the Fire Brigade said in an e-mailed press statement. Shortly afterwards local police announced they were both dead.

The police launched an investigation to determine the cause of the accident.

The plane was owned by the pilot, who was a teacher. It had taken off from the air club of Messolonghi, a town in western Greece, and according to the flight plan, it was to return there after a short flight over the western Peloponnese, George Prevezanos, director of the air club, told the local newspaper Ta Nea (The News).