Merritt Island plane crash victims identified

Two people died when a small plane went down in a neighborhood on Merritt Island, Monday night.

The crash happened around 8:30 p.m. on Paula Avenue near several homes.

"Our units responded on scene and located an aircraft next to a residence, on the east side of the residence," said Lt. Alex Herrera with the Brevard County Sheriff's Office.

The victims have been identified as Kenneth Marks, 64, and John Kish, 47.

Investigators say Marks was interested in buying the plane from Kish and they had just taken off on a test flight from the airport when they crashed.

Neighbors say the plane crash sounded like an explosion, knocking out power to the area for hours.

"It is very fortunate that it didn't cause any more damage than what it did. No one on the ground or in the residence was injured," said Herrera.

The cause is being investigated by the FAA and NTSB.