Related Coverage Photos: Plane crash at Wichita airport 
 
 
 
 WICHITA, Kansas – Two people are dead after a small plane has crashed at Wichita’s Mid-Continent Airport, sending up huge plumes of black smoke that can be seen for miles around the city. The crash happened around 9:50 a.m. 
 
 Four people have been transported to Via-Christi Hospital. One person is in critical condition. Three people are in fair condition. Via Christi says they are expecting another patient. Wesley Medical Center has not received any patients from the crash. 
 
 PHOTOS: Plane crashes at Mid-Continent Airport 
 
 KSN has confirmed from the FAA that a twin engine Beechcraft King Air lost an engine on takeoff from Wichita’s Mid-Continent airport and crashed into the two-story FlightSafety International building located on South Airport Road. The plane was trying to return to the runway. 
 
 “The airport crews arrived first. Seeing smoke and flames and what appears to be a plane striking the building. Firefighters engaged in a horrific fight for several minutes. We have the fire under control. We are in the process of trying to determine if all the employees and visitors who may have been in the building are accounted for,” said Wichita Fire Chief Ron Blackwell. 
 
 Fire trucks were positioned near the crash and were pouring water on the wreckage. The east side of the roof on the Flight Safety building has collapsed. One person is in critical condition. KSN has learned as many as five people are now unaccounted for. Crews have knocked down the fire and are reportedly entering the building to check for people. 
 
 Mid-Continent Road to the airport is closed except for emergency traffic. Flights are operating as normal according to Mid-Continent Airport. 
 
 FAA investigators are at the scene. The National Transportation Safety Board has been notified. 
 
 At least 50 to 60 firefighters from the Wichita Fire Department are battling the fire. They were withdrawn 
 
 KSN has multiple crews at the scene. Look for updates online on KSN.com. ||||| WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A small plane lost power after takeoff and crashed into a flight-training building while trying to return to a Kansas airport Thursday, killing at least four people, injuring at least five others and igniting a fire that sent up towering plumes of black smoke that could be seen for miles around Wichita, officials and witnesses said. 
 
 Smoke billows from a building at Mid-Continent Airport in Wichita, Kan., Thursday. Oct. 30, 2014, shortly after a small plane crashed into the building killing several people including the pilot. (AP... (Associated Press) 
 
 Firefighters try to put out a fire at Mid-Continent Airport in Wichita, Kan., Thursday. Oct. 30, 2014, shortly after a small plane crashed into the building killing several people including the pilot.... (Associated Press) 
 
 Firefighters try to put out a fire at Mid-Continent Airport in Wichita, Kan., Thursday. Oct. 30, 2014, shortly after a small plane crashed into the building killing several people including the pilot.... (Associated Press) 
 
 In the image from video provided by KAKE News black smoke billows from a building at Mid-Continent Airport where officials say a plane crashed Thursday, Oct. 30, 2014 in Wichita, Kan. AP Photo/KAKE News)... (Associated Press) 
 
 Scott Gatzulis and family, returning to Wichita from a Hawaii vacation, walk to their car at Mid-Continent Airport in Wichita, Kan., Thursday. Oct. 30, 2014, after a small plane crashed into the building... (Associated Press) 
 
 Firefighters try to put out a fire at Mid-Continent Airport in Wichita, Kan., Thursday. Oct. 30, 2014, shortly after a small plane crashed into the building killing several people including the pilot.... (Associated Press) 
 
 Only the pilot was on the plane, but it wasn't immediately clear how many people were inside the building at Wichita Mid-Continent Airport where at least four people found dead, authorities said. Four more people remained unaccounted for hours after the crash. 
 
 Two sweeps of the building found no more victims, though officials cautioned that a small portion containing a simulator room had not been checked because of structural dangers from the crash. Special equipment was being brought to the site that would allow access to the remaining space. 
 
 assured onlookers the search would resume as soon as the building was stable. 
 
 "We understand that this is a very difficult time, especially for folks who have family members who are working out here and they don't know," Crisp said. 
 
 The plane, identified as a twin-engine Beechcraft King Air, crashed into a building that FlightSafety International uses to train pilots to fly Cessna planes, company spokesman Steve Phillips said. 
 
 It appeared to strike the top of the building and ignite what Wichita Fire Chief Ronald D. Blackwell described as a "horrific" fire. 
 
 Jeff Papacek, 39, of Wichita, said he saw a "giant fireball" as he was heading to his engineering job at Learjet, which has a testing facility at the airport. He said he didn't see the crash because there were too many buildings in the way, but he said the plane caught his attention beforehand. 
 
 "We are used to planes flying straight with the runway and this plane just didn't look like it was lined up and was way too low for the direction it was going," Papacek said, adding that he drove to the crash site to see what was happening and saw the building fire raging. 
 
 The crash did not appear to be significantly disrupting passenger traffic at the airport as planes could be seen taking off from other runways. 
 
 Located several miles west of downtown Wichita, a longtime aircraft manufacturing hub, Wichita Mid-Continent is used by private aircraft and served by several airlines and their regional affiliates, including American, Southwest, Delta, United and Allegiant. It saw more than 13,000 departures and about 1.4 million passengers last year, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. 
 
 The crash is the latest in a string of incidents at the airport. In December, an avionics technician was arrested after a months-long undercover sting when he allegedly tried to drive a van filled with inert explosives onto the tarmac in a plot prosecutors say was intended to kill as many people as possible. Then in January, an Oklahoma man rammed his pickup truck through a security gate at the airport. In September, the airport conducted a large-scale disaster exercise featuring the mock crash of a 737 aircraft. 
 
 FBI spokeswoman Bridget Patton said it is "too early to rule anything out" about the cause of Thursday's crash and confirmed the FBI is assisting in the investigation, but stressed the agency's protocol is to respond to "any and all plane crashes at airports." 
 
 ___ 
 
 Reporters Heather Hollingsworth, Margaret Stafford and Greg Moore in Kansas City, Mo., contributed to this story.
– At least four people are dead after a small plane crashed at Wichita's Mid-Continent Airport this morning, sending up "towering plumes of black smoke that could be seen for miles," in the words of AP. The twin-engine Beechcraft King Air reported losing engine power just after takeoff, according to Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Tony Molinaro, who says the plane hit a building on airport property while trying to return to the runway. KSN reports that four are dead and four others are missing. The pilot, identified as Mark Goldstein, was among those killed. “He was an air traffic controller who retired less than a year ago and became a contract pilot, and he would contract his services to different airplane owners and operators," says an acquaintance at a local aviation company. “He talked to the tower before he crashed. They knew his voice."