The four people killed in a western Wisconsin plane crash Monday have been identified as a group from the Hudson, Wis., area that included a father and two sons.

Daniel P. Ortner, 44, of North Hudson, Wis., was piloting the single-engine plane that had departed the New Richmond Regional Airport about 10 minutes before it crashed in a field southwest of Amery, Wis., the Polk County sheriff’s office said Tuesday morning.

Also killed in the crash were Eric J. Larson, 47, and Larson’s sons Michael J. Larson, 20, and Matthew E. Larson, 18 — all of Hudson, Wis.

Ortner was flying a Beech M35, a six-passenger, single-engine aircraft, according to a Federal Aviation Administration official.

The plane crashed about 5:15 p.m. on the property of Owen and Karen Olson in Alden Township.

“I heard a plane,” Karen Olson said. “At first, I thought it was a helicopter. Then it disappeared.”

Olson said the plane fell about 200 yards from their home, but she did not see it crash. She said she learned it was a plane crash when a neighbor who saw it pounded on her door.

“He said it was kind of twirling around, going down to the ground,” Olson said. “Then it flattened out, and he thought they had it (under control). Then all of a sudden he said he saw the ball of fire.”

The first deputies to arrive found the plane burning in the field. After the flames were extinguished, the remains of the four occupants were discovered inside.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the cause of the crash.

Amery is about 60 miles northeast of St. Paul.

Another plane crash Monday killed three people in Minnesota.

Several hours after the Wisconsin crash, a fixed-wing plane carrying three people crashed in a cornfield near Pipestone, authorities said Tuesday. The pilot and two passengers were pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Pipestone County sheriff’s office.

Travis Jasper said he and his construction crew were just finishing work for the day near the crash site when he heard what sounded like a plane in trouble.

“(I) heard it spitting and sputtering. It fired up a couple times and then I thought I heard a car door slam.” Jasper told KSFY-TV. “A couple minutes later, I seen the neighbor at the corner and he’s like, I think a plane just went down, and I said yah, I think the same thing.”

Jasper said he and his crew jumped on top of their vehicle to try to spot the plane in the cornfield.

Authorities haven’t identified that flight’s departure or destination location.

This report includes information from the Associated Press. Jaime DeLage can be reached at 651-228-5450. Follow him at twitter.com/JaimeDeLage.