Authorities have said that two people died Saturday when the small custom-built plane they were flying crashed near a rural airstrip north of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The Tulsa World has reported that Oklahoma Highway Patrol officers at the scene of the crash said the victims were a man and a woman, and Federal Aviation Administration records show a Tulsa man as the plane's owner.

The World further said that the single-engine Vans RV-4 aircraft crashed just after takeoff from a private airstrip in Airman Acres southwest of Collinsville, Okla.

The engine stalled just after the airplane lifted off, and it crashed into a grassy area several hundred yards from the airstrip, witnesses have said.

The highway patrol has said that it hit the ground nose-first and caught fire.

It was further reported that FAA officials were called to investigate the crash. FAA records show the fixed-wing aircraft was built by its owner in 1998. (With Inputs from Agencies)