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ST. CHARLES COUNTY, Mo. (KTVI) -– Two passengers are dead after a twin-engine plane bound for Centennial Airport crashed outside St. Louis on Saturday. The crash is now under federal investigation.

National Transportation Safety Board spokesperson Peter Knudson said the passengers on board were pilots.

“The airplane climbed to about 8,000 feet on an instrument flight plan that continued all the way to the crash site. There was no communication from the flight crew after the descent began,” he said.

According to Knudson, the plane left Spirit of St. Louis Airport in Chesterfield, Missouri and was scheduled to arrive at Centennial Airport in Englewood, Colorado.

Knudson said the Beech 58 aircraft crashed at 7:19 p.m. CST in a heavily-wooded area.

Multiple local agencies and first responders searched the area off Highway F near Rugged Acres in St. Charles County.

The names of the victims have not been released; they typically are once family members are notified.

Knudson confirmed the NTSB has taken over the investigation.

“We’ve dispatched an investigator from Denver who will be arriving at the accident site in the area today (Sunday) to begin the on-scene phase of the investigation (Monday) morning,” he said. “He’s expected to be on scene for several days, and then we’ll run a preliminary report, which will have the facts and circumstances of the accident and we expect to have that out within a couple of weeks.”