A single-engine plane flying from Maine to New York crashed Monday during a thunderstorm in the Berkshires, and the two people on board were found dead in the wreckage.
The victims were identified as Gregg Hartley, 54, of Boothbay Harbor, and Timothy Ladd, 59, of Hallowell, according to Berkshire District Attorney David Capeless.
The Piper PA-32 was registered to Hartley Marine Services, the dry bulk transport and tug company that Hartley owned in Boothbay Harbor.
Hartley and Ladd, a mechanical subcontractor, were flying from Wiscasset, Maine, to Columbia County Airport in Hudson, N.Y., a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration said.
The cause of the crash is under investigation. The National Weather Service reported thunderstorms and lightning in the area about 8 a.m., about the time the plane crashed.
"It was not the most ideal condition for flying, especially for a small aircraft," said Brian Montgomery, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Albany, N.Y.