HAYWARD — A pilot died and BART service was interrupted Sunday hours before Game 7 of the NBA Finals after a small plane crashed on the agency’s tracks, authorities said.

There were no reports of injuries to anyone on the ground, including BART passengers or staff, and the agency reopened its service around 2:10 p.m. after shutting down trains in both directions between South Hayward and Fremont on its Fremont line.

The twin-engine Piper PA23 went down for unknown reasons about four miles east of the Hayward Executive Airport, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said.

The plane crashed around 12:05 p.m. on BART’s transfer tracks at its Hayward Yard, spokeswoman Denisse Gonzalez said, near the area of Whipple Road and Railroad Avenue. The location is on the border of Hayward and Union City. Gonzalez confirmed the death of the pilot, who was not immediately identified.

Nobody else was on the plane, which caught fire after the crash and was extinguished by fire crews from Hayward and Alameda County. BART stopped its service between the South Hayward and Fremont stations for about two hours.

Trains headed north from Fremont and Union City were stopped at South Hayward and unable to make it to the Coliseum station, the landing spot for fans going to Oracle Arena to see the Golden State Warriors play the Cleveland Cavaliers in a winner-takes-all-showdown for the NBA crown. The agency used an AC Transit bus to shuttle passengers during the delay.

As of late Sunday afternoon, trains were down to five- to seven-minute delays between South Hayward and Fremont, a BART dispatcher said, and trains were smoothly moving Oakland A’s fans, who were leaving a home game against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at the Oakland Coliseum.

Staff writer George Kelly contributed to this report. Contact Rick Hurd at 925-945-4789 and follow him at Twitter.com/3rdERH.