Men killed in plane crash identified as Nevadans

PAGE, Ariz. -- Two men whose bodies were found in the wreckage of a small plane in a remote area west of Page have been identified as Nevadans.

The Coconino County Sheriff's Office identified the men on Thursday as 51-year-old Robert Patterson of Las Vegas and 59-year-old Norman Burmeister of Laughlin.

Both men were licensed pilots, and investigators were still trying to determine which of them was flying the plane when it crashed.

The single-engine Cessna 172 had taken off from the Page airport on Monday afternoon en route to North Las Vegas airport, according to sheriff's spokesman Gerry Blair.

Sheriff's officials were notified about an overdue aircraft and an emergency locator transmitter signal in the Page area on Tuesday morning and launched a search.

A National Park Service airplane and a private medical helicopter began searching for the missing plane and quickly located the wreckage in an area about 10 miles west of Page known as Thousand Pockets, Blair said.

The crew of the medical helicopter were able to land and confirmed the men were dead.

The sheriff's office, the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration were investigating the crash.