CROWN KING, Ariz. (AP) — Authorities recovered the bodies of a Aguila couple Tuesday from the wreckage of a small plane in northern Arizona.
Authorities identified the victims as 74-year-old Ralph Smith and his 71-year-old wife, Frances Smith.
Federal Aviation Administration officials say the single-engine plane departed Sunday from St. Johns and was supposed to arrive later that day in Aguila, a town west of Wickenburg. When the plane didn't arrive, relatives notified authorities.
Yavapai County Sheriff's officials say the crash site was on a remote mountainside in the Horsethief Basin area near Crown King, about 25 miles southeast of Prescott.
Authorities say Arizona Bureau of Land Management ground crews working a 1-acre wildfire in a mountainous area just south of Crown King discovered the wreckage in a remote area Monday afternoon and one fatality was confirmed.
Recovery efforts resumed Tuesday morning and authorities say that's when the second body was discovered.
National Transportation Safety Board officials were at the crash scene Tuesday and have assumed responsibility for the investigation.
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