He recalled seeing billowing flames and dark smoke after the crash.

The plane was bound for St. Petersburg, Fla., from Addison, a 4.4-square-mile community that is heavily dependent on its small municipal airport, which caters to business travelers.

The crash occurred four days before the airport’s annual Addison Kaboom Town! air and fireworks show, which is scheduled for Wednesday. Several publications have rated the event one of the best fireworks shows in the country.

The town’s police and fire departments are both adjacent to the airport, so officers and firefighters were at the crash site almost immediately. “It was right out their back door, so the response was unbelievably quick,” said Mary Rosenbleeth, the town’s spokeswoman.

Mr. Ellard, 52, was a part-owner of an Italian restaurant in Dallas, and a son of Jo McPhail Ellard, the owner of EE Ranches, which has locations in Texas and Mississippi. Last year, Ms. Ellard sold her family-owned insurance company for $405 million, according to The Dallas Morning News.

The plane that crashed on Sunday, a Beechcraft King Air 350, was purchased this year by EE Operations, according to Federal Aviation Administration records. That company shares a registered agent with Ms. Ellard’s ranches.

Mr. Ellard’s restaurant, Mille Lire, posted a message on its Facebook page Monday saying it was “incredibly saddened by the tragic loss” of Mr. Ellard and his family. Mr. Ellard’s wife was an architect and interior designer who was born and raised in Italy, according to her company website; her children were students at Catholic schools in the Dallas area.

“Dylan and Alice were loved by all their classmates and teachers,” Shana Druffner, the principal of All Saints Catholic, wrote in a message to parents of students at the school, where Dylan would have started eighth grade in the fall. His sister, Alice, would have been a sophomore at John Paul II High School after the summer. “All will be greatly missed,” Ms. Druffner wrote.