5 killed in Arkansas plane crash that happened shortly after takeoff

Arkansas consulting company says its employees were onboard

An Arkansas environmental consulting firm says it is "incredibly saddened" after five of its employees died in a plane crash that happened shortly after takeoff from Little Rock.

The twin-engine Beech BE20 was heading to Columbus, Ohio on Wednesday when it went down a few miles south of the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport, authorities say.

"We are incredibly saddened to report the loss of our Little Rock colleagues," Paul Nony, senior vice president of CTEH, said in a statement. "We ask everyone to keep the families of those lost and the entire CTEH team in their thoughts and prayers."

A company spokesman told The Associated Press that the employees onboard the plane, which included the pilot, were responding to an explosion at Cleveland-area metals plant this week that killed one worker and sent more than a dozen to the hospital.