A small plane crashed this afternoon on Interstate 93 in Hooksett, N.H., killing two people, New Hampshire State Police said.

The Beechcraft Bonanza with two on board crashed between Exits 10 and 11. It was registered to a Rhode Island architectural firm. The Federal Aviation Administration was headed to the scene, the FAA said in a statement.

New Hampshire Department of Transportation spokesman Bill Boynton said that reports of the crash were received at about 1:15 p.m. The crash happened just south of the I-93/I-293 split, at mile marker 26.2, he said.

The plane, which had left Nashua, N.H., and was en route to Laconia, N.H., came to rest next to a guardrail after it struck a light pole adjacent to the highway which caused the plane to nose dive, a preliminary investigation found, State Police said.


A man and a woman were in the plane; their names were not immediately released. State Police said the man was ejected from the aircraft.

A Globe employee who was driving up I-93 North saw the wreckage at about 1:10 p.m. She said she saw a small plane on the left side of the road.

The tail of the plane was in the road. The section of the road at that point has three lanes. There was no fire and no smoke, Barbara Gibson said. Emergency vehicles raced past, on the way to the plane.

Before emergency vehicles arrived, Gibson said she saw two men in suits standing by the plane, including one who looked like New Hampshire Governor John Lynch. His press secretary, Colin Manning, later confirmed that Lynch had been returning from a funeral in Salem, saw the wreck, and waited there until help arrived.

State Police said the ramp from I-93 North to I-293 South was closed and two of the I-93 North lanes were closed.

Boynton said drivers should expect traffic delays throughout the afternoon and suggested that people seek alternate routes.

The incident is under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board, FAA, and the state Bureau of Aeronautics.