UPDATE: Identities Of 2 People Killed In Auburn Plane Crash Released

AUBURN (CBS/AP) – Authorities have released the identities of the two people killed when the single-engine Cessna aircraft they were flying in crashed near the Auburn Airport on Saturday night.

The passengers have been identified as Bruce Albright Rhymes, 59, and wife, Kathy Lorraine Rhymes, 58, of Susanville.

The Placer County Sheriff's Office received a call shortly after midnight from the California Office of Emergency Services to help search for the single-engine Cessna 170 that went down in a heavily wooded area at around 9:10 p.m.

The plane went down under "unknown circumstances," said Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer. He did not know if the plane had just taken off or was on approach to the airport at the time of the crash.

Commercial airliners had reportedly received a distress signal from the aircraft's emergency locating transmitter near the time of the crash.

Cal EMA provided specific GPS information to CHP's fixed wing and Placer County Sheriff's helicopter. They, along with a deputy on the ground, were able to locate the aircraft.

The NTSB and FAA are investigating the crash.

The airport near the scene of the crash is part of an industrial park in Auburn, a Sierra foothills community about 35 miles northeast of Sacramento.

At an elevation of 1,500 feet Auburn Municipal Airport is above the fog and usually clear year-round, according to its website. Weather at the time of the crash was clear and winds were calm, the National Weather Service said.