2 dead as small plane crashes at Ohio car dealership

The pilot and passenger were the only people aboard the plane.

A small plane crashed in a car dealership parking lot in Marietta, Ohio, Tuesday morning, leaving the pilot and a passenger dead, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

Police said no one on the ground was injured.

They were identified by the state patrol as Eric Seevers, 45, of Parkersburg, West Virginia, and Timothy Gifford, 49, of Orient, Ohio.

Gifford had recently retired from the Columbus Division of Fire, according to Columbus ABC affiliate WSYX.

The accident at the Pioneer Buick GMC dealership sparked a fire that took about 30 minutes to extinguish, said Marietta police. Marietta is located in southeast Ohio along the West Virginia border.

There were no distress signals from the pilot or indicators that something was wrong, NTSB officials said Wednesday. An investigation is ongoing.

ABC News' Sam Sweeney contributed to this report.