September 26, 1999
Web posted at: 3:57 p.m. EDT (1957 GMT)

KAILUA KONA, Hawaii (CNN) -- Ten people on board a sightseeing airplane died when it crashed on the side of Hawaii's Mauna Loa volcano.

Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Diana Joubert said search crews located the wreckage at 6:30 a.m. Sunday at an elevation of about 10,500 feet. The volcano reaches 13,679 feet.

The PA-31/350 Piper Chieftain, with a pilot and nine passengers, was operated by Big Island Airlines, which offers regularly scheduled tours of the "big island" of Hawaii.

"It's pretty rough terrain on the side of the volcano, with plenty of lava fields," said Roy Mann, the airline's operations director.

The twin-engine plane had taken off about 4:30 p.m. Saturday for a tour of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea, two dormant volcanoes. About three hours later, Big Island officials notified Kona International Airport that the plane was an hour overdue.

Searchers began looking for the plane but suspended their search when darkness fell. They resumed the search Sunday morning and found the plane about an hour later, Joubert said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.