4 die in plane crash in Japan

The single-engine Mooney M20C was returning from Kobe Airport in Hyogo Prefecture when it crashed at Yao Airport at around 4:20 p.m. while trying to land, according to the transport ministry.
All four victims were believed to be adult males, but their identities were not immediately known. Police will conduct autopsies on the remains on Sunday and Monday, Kyodo reports.
The plane may have dropped around 20 meters to the ground and crashed when trying to climb again to go around and make another landing approach, according to the ministry.
Investigators are likely to look into the possibility of the aircraft stalling in midair. A 71-year-old female eyewitness recalled seeing the plane flying wobbly at slow speeds before falling to the ground nose first.
Aerial footage showed a mangled plane near one of the two runways at the airport, with only its wings and tail section left somewhat intact. Eyewitnesses said the aircraft was engulfed by fire after the crash.
The accident investigative arm of the transport ministry has sent two investigators to the airport following the crash.
Ownership of the plane is registered to a man in his 40s in Hiroshima city in western Japan, according to the ministry and the police.
The plane had left Yao Airport for Kobe Airport at 2:30 p.m. and arrived there in about 15 minutes, according to the ministry and an aviation company with an office at the airport. It then left for Yao at 4:03 p.m.
The plane was likely scheduled to fly to an airport in Aichi Prefecture after landing at Yao, according to the police.
Yao Airport, located about 20 kilometers southeast of central Osaka, is in the middle of an urban area. It has no scheduled flights and mainly serves general aviation.
In August 2008, a light aircraft crash-landed on a street near the airport, injuring two people aboard.