Six people were killed when a passenger aircraft crashed in Sauk County, in the Midwestern US state of Wisconsin. The plane went down near the city of Reedsburg on Tuesday evening local time.

The Sauk County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the information in a statement issued on Wednesday. According to the statement, the office received reports of the crash at around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Following the report, sheriff’s deputies and emergency responders arrived at the scene and located the aircraft.

In a subsequent statement, sheriff’s officials said the plane was carrying five adults and one child. The aircraft was returning from the city of Kenosha, Wisconsin, to Menomonie.

The Sheriff’s Office said the plane crashed in a densely wooded area. All six people aboard were found dead during the search operation. Authorities have withheld the victims’ identities pending the investigation.

Officials said the aircraft was believed to have been communicating with a nearby air traffic control tower before the crash.

“We are now trying to determine what was said during that communication and whether any weather-related event in the area contributed to the accident,” an official said.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) identified the crashed aircraft as a Piper PA-46.

According to preliminary information from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the pilot reported icing while flying at an altitude of 24,000 feet and requested permission to descend.

The NTSB said air traffic control cleared the aircraft to descend. The plane then turned right and began descending. Its descent rate subsequently increased before contact with the aircraft was lost, along with its tracking data.

The NTSB said investigators were heading to the crash site to examine the circumstances surrounding the accident. The agency expects to submit a preliminary report within 30 days.

Source: ABC News