FINDLAY, Ohio (AP): Federal investigators say a plane piloted by the CEO of an Ohio manufacturing company was on fire before it crashed and killed both people on board in July.
 
Two witnesses told investigators that the plane was on fire before it began descending over northwestern Ohio.
 
A report released Thursday by the National Transportation Safety Board says the plane crashed just after a controller with the Federal Aviation Administration cleared the plane to land at a small airport near Bluffton.
 
The plane crashed into a ditch and just missed hitting an empty trailer outside of Findlay.
 
The Courier newspaper in Findlay reports that one witness said the plane's back end was on fire before the crash that killed Ralf Bronnenmeier and his passenger. Bronnenmeier was CEO of Grob Systems in Bluffton.