Three people from Minnesota died in a small plane crash in northwestern Montgomery County. The plane had taken off from Spirit of St. Louis Airport early Thursday morning.

The State Highway Patrol identifies the victims as David McCormick, Michael Kammerer and Waylon Karsten. The patrol says the three were on their way home to Buffalo, Minnesota when the crash occurred. A spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration says the airport lost radar contact with the plane about a half hour after take-off.

The aircraft was a single-engine Piper 46, about a year old. It is owned by McC Aviation Services of Rockford, Minnesota. The firm is a subsidiary of an ethanol manufacturer. McCormick was the company’s president. The men had been in St. Louis to attend the 23 rd annual International Fuel Ethanol Workshop and Expo.