Student pilot and instructor killed in plane crash during Kentucky thunderstorm

The single-engine Piper PA-28 went down on Wednesday night in Ohio County

Search teams are seen at a staging site near where a plane crashed in Kentucky on 28 September (14 News)

Two people were killed when a small plane crashed in Kentucky during a thunderstorm.

The single-engine Piper PA-28 went down just before 11pm on Wednesday in a wooded area near Whitesville in the western part of the state.

The Ohio County Sheriff’s Office searched through the night for survivors, who were described as a pilot in training and an instructor.

Kentucky State Police made the tragic announcement on Thursday morning that the two plane occupants had been found dead.

The cause of the crash is under investigation by the KSP and the Federal Aviation Administration.

It had been reported that the storms in the area had been so severe around the time of the crash that a tornado was threatened. Weather reports suggested the heavy rain would move into Kentucky from Ohio.

The pilots were flying from Bowling Green to Owensboro when they lost contact with control towers.

Authorities used the pilot’s cell phone data to track the site of the crash by air and on foot.

The two victims have not been identified.