Police: All 6 on small plane killed in crash at Arizona golf course

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - All six people aboard a small plane were killed when it crashed on a golf course in a Phoenix suburb shortly after taking off from a nearby airport, police said Tuesday.

The identities of those killed in the Monday night's fiery crash in Scottsdale have yet to be released. Nobody on the ground was hurt, said Kevin Watts, a Scottsdale Police Department spokesman.

Watts said the plane had just taken off from the Scottsdale Airport, but no information was immediately available on its planned destination.

Police will release the identities once they're determined by the Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office, but it's not known when that process will be complete, according to Watts.

The Piper PA-24 Comanche went down on the TPC Scottsdale Champions Golf Course - the sister to the Stadium Course where the PGA's Waste Management Phoenix Open is held each February.

Investigators were at the site Tuesday morning examining the burned wreckage next to a tree on a dirt area, with seven vehicles parked on nearby turf and others nearby.

National Transportation Safety Board investigator Eliott Simpson said at a news conference that their goal right now is to "gather as much evidence as we can and try not to jump to conclusions" about a possible cause of the crash.

He added that investigators will document how the plane hit the ground and determine if it hit any trees on the golf course and examine the burn scar.

Simpson said they also will listen to the audio tape of the pilot talking to the airport tower during the takeoff.

The NTSB will issue a preliminary report on circumstances of the crash within two weeks, spokesman Eric Weiss said from Washington.