2 dead after plane crashes into North Carolina lake, authorities say

Two people are dead after a small plane crashed into a lake in North Carolina Sunday, authorities said. 

Multiple agencies from Alexander, Caldwell and Catawba counties responded to the crash after the plane hit a power line, which caused several thousand power outages, and crashed into Lake Hickory in Hickory, North Carolina, around 11:30 a.m., a City Of Hickory spokesperson told USA TODAY.

The names of the victims were not immediately released. 

The small plane was a Scoda Aeronautica Super Petrel that departed from Hickory Regional Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement to USA TODAY, adding that the information is preliminary and subject to change.

 The airport is about 45 miles from Charlotte, North Carolina. The crash caused over 18,000 outages, but power was fully restored around 1:30 p.m., local station WCNC reported.

The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash. USA TODAY has reached out to the NTSB for more information.

Latest small airplane crash in U.S.

The crash in North Carolina is the latest small plane crash this month.

On Wednesday, two people died after a plane crashed in Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska. Officials have determined the plane's pilot, Jason Tucker, 45, and passenger Nicolas Blace, age 44, are likely to have died in the crash.

On August 7, a small plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean along Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Just two days earlier,  a single-engine Piper PA-18 crashed into the ocean off a New Hampshire beach.

Contributing: Kate Perez and Natalie Neysa Alund, USA TODAY