Two pilots were killed when a small plane crashed into an abandoned building near Honolulu’s Daniel K. Inouye International Airport on Tuesday afternoon, sparking flames and black smoke.

A Kamaka Air Cessna 208 was conducting a training flight when it crashed into the building around 3:15 p.m. local time on Tuesday, Hawaii Department of Transportation Director Ed Sniffen told reporters.

“It’s not a charter flight, it was a training flight,” Sniffen said. “Two souls were on board. Both were killed.”

The building, which belonged to the Ministry of Transportation, was empty.

Sniffen noted that, according to witnesses, the pilots “avoided a number of structures, including our fuel farm, to minimize impact.”

The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the cause of the crash.

Audio transmissions from Kamaka Air 689 showed the air traffic control tower asking, “You’re turning right, right?” and a pilot on board replied, “We’re out of control here,” Hawaii News Now reported.

Witnesses reported seeing the small plane flying low and then hearing a loud bang followed by clouds of smoke.

“I was sitting at my desk and suddenly saw a small plane flying past my seventh floor office window. And I said, ‘Oh, he’s really, really low,’ and he started moving and going back toward the airport and then I heard a loud bang,” witness Nancy Timko told Hawaii News Now.

The fire department responded and was able to contain the fire outside the building. Honolulu Fire Chief Sheldon Hao said the Cessna crashed into an outside stairway area. He said the debris field was no larger than 50 feet.

Kamaka Air said in a statement Tuesday: “It is with a heavy heart that Kamaka Air confirms the loss of two members of the Kamaka Air family in an accident at 3:13 p.m. this afternoon.”

The company, which operates air cargo flights and charter services, did not disclose the names of the pilots on board.