A twin-engine light plane crashed in a field in western France Friday, killing two people just before landing, local media said.

The Cessna 421 went down at around 6:00 pm local time in a field near the La Baule-Escoublac airfield in the Loire-Atlantique department, between the coastal towns of La Baule and Pornichet.

The aircraft had departed from Rennes, in the Ille-et-Vilaine department, and crashed approximately thirty seconds before it was due to touch down.

The crash killed the pilot and a passenger, according to information from Ouest-France.

A local resident said they heard backfiring sounds before seeing a large column of smoke rise from the site, identified as a locality known as La Bosse.

Firefighters were still at the scene as of 7:00 pm Friday.

The cause of the crash is not yet known. Authorities have opened an investigation.

Source: Ouest-France