2 killed when small plane crashes near Missouri airport

FESTUS, Mo. (AP) — A man and his adult son were killed when a small plane crashed near a Missouri airport after the pilot reporting electrical problems that made it difficult to see the runway.

The wreckage was discovered Friday morning in woods near the airport in Festus, 35 miles (55 kilometers) south of St. Louis. The victims’ names haven’t been released.

Jefferson County Sheriff Dave Marshak says the pilot was returning from New York with a newly purchased single-engine plane Thursday night. The pilot reported electrical problems that prevented him from activating the runway lights, which are otherwise turned off at night.

Marshak says the pilot sent a text asking his fiance to stand at the runway with a flashlight. The plane crashed within a few hundred yards of the runway.