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News Update Two dead after small plane crashes in desert  By Kristina Davis, Tribune Two people died Tuesday afternoon when a small plane crashed in the desert
near Apache Junction and burst into flames, officials said.  Apache Junction police Sgt. Dick Virgil described the plane as "pancaked"
and said its smoldering remains measured only about 2 1/2 feet high.

"It was burned beyond recognition and fully engulfed in flames when fire
(crews) arrived," Virgil said.

Police expect medical examiners will have to use dental records and
possibly DNA to identify the victims.

The single-engine fixed-wing plane fell from the sky in a flat spin near
Idaho Road and Lost Dutchman Boulevard about 1:40 p.m., Virgil said.
Witnesses said the plane appeared to have engine trouble and was sputtering
in the air, Virgil said.

Investigators did not know where the plane came from or where it was
headed. Mesa's Falcon Field Airport is the closest airport to the crash
scene, but Virgil said there are also several private dirt airstrips in the
area.

Federal Aviation Administration officials were at the scene and will have
to search the wreckage to find the plane's identification number since the
plane's tail number was destroyed.

The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the cause of the
crash.  Contact Kristina Davis by email, or phone () -