Sep 23, 2014 2 min read

CINCINNATI – Authorities identified as brothers the two men killed when their small plane crashed into a southwest Ohio suburban neighborhood, hitting a house where a family was eating breakfast before bursting into flames.

The Butler County sheriff’s office said the men who died Saturday morning were Steven Krummen, 49, of Mason and Jeffrey Krummen, 40, of West Chester Township.

Sheriff Richard Jones said a preliminary investigation indicated the pilot lost control of the plane. The Acro Sport II biplane hit the side of a house, then crashed into a backyard and was engulfed by flames. The two men were dead at the scene. No residents were injured.

“There were people at home having breakfast when the plane struck the house,” Jones said in a statement Monday. “The tragedy could have been much worse, but thankfully, deputies and emergency crews were on the scene quick and cleared people out of their homes and the fire was put out before it spread and caused more damage.”

Residents of the Liberty Township neighborhood, where the plane crashed some 25 miles north of Cincinnati, said the pilot appeared to be doing stunts before the plane nosed downward and fell. Authorities said the two men were said to be experienced fliers.

“I was very shaken up because the plane landed in the backyard,” Debbie Valentino, who lives two doors away from where the plane crashed, told The Cincinnati Enquirer. “There are young children in all these houses.”

Butler County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Anthony Dwyer said Saturday that a husband, wife and young child were eating breakfast when the plane hit the garage area of their house, causing structural damage and leaving a hole. They were unharmed.

Siding melted on a second home near the plane.

The plane was an open-cockpit aerobatic plane built in 1994. The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating.