( CNN ) -- A replica of a 1910 aircraft built by flight pioneers Orville and Wilbur Wright crashed Saturday in a field near Springfield , Ohio , killing the two men aboard , the Ohio State Highway Patrol reported . The aircraft was reported downed shortly before 11 a.m. , the agency said in a statement . It had taken off from Springfield Beckley Municipal Airport . Police identified the dead men as Don Gum , 73 , of Beaver Creek , Ohio , and Mitchell Cary , 65 , of Yellow Springs , Ohio . The cause of the crash remained under investigation , according to the highway patrol . It 's looking into the incident along with the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board . The plane , owned by Wright `` B '' Flyer Inc. of Dayton , Ohio -- a volunteer nonprofit group -- was a copy of a Wright Model B aircraft produced seven years after the brothers ' celebrated first powered flight . It began test flights in June and performed well , according to a press release on the organization 's website . The organization designed the plane to resemble the 1910 edition , but built it so that it could be more easily taken apart and shipped to international events , the company said in the June press release . It was built with a modern engine , controls and materials , the organization said . Gum and Cary were members of the group 's board of trustees and Cary was a former president , CNN affiliate WHIO-TV reported . `` Mitch and Don were highly competent pilots with extensive experience flying Wright ' B ' Flyer airplanes and other experimental aircraft , '' WHIO quoted president Phil Beaudoin as saying .
Plane crashes near Springfield , Ohio . Two men on board died . - July 10 :