UPDATE: Northern Minnesota Plane Crash Victims Identified

DULUTH (WJON News) -- Authorities have released the names of the two people killed in a small plane crash near Duluth.

The St. Louis County Sheriff's Office says the pilot, 60-year-old Bryan Handyside, and his passenger, 64-year-old Matthew Joseph were found dead in the wreckage. Handyside is from an unincorporated township in the area and Joseph is from Duluth.

The sheriff's office says the two were co-workers at Cirrus Aircraft in Duluth but the plane was privately owned.

Authorities were called to a wooded area in an unorganized township northwest of Two Harbors just after 8:00 Wednesday morning. The original notification came from the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center in Florida. The sheriff's office says they detected an emergency locator transmitter distress signal from the airplane and contacted the state duty officer. Sheriff's deputies discovered the wreckage and the victims a short time later.

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The plane is described as a 1946 two-seat Aeronca 7CCM. Authorities say they believe the plane had a recent inspection and left Duluth Airport earlier in the morning on a return-to-service flight.

The cause of the crash is unknown and is currently under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.