HILLTOP LAKES, Texas — Four people from Louisiana were killed when their single-engine airplane crashed in a Texas pasture while attempting an emergency landing, authorities said.

The crash happened Sunday morning near the airport in Hilltop Lakes, about 120 miles (193 kilometers) northwest of Houston. The Texas Department of Public Safety said all four people aboard the aircraft were killed.

DPS officials identified the victims as two couples, Phillip and Pauline Ackel of Natchitoches and Kenneth and Missy Lynn Hix of Lafayette, according to The Advocate.

Leon County Sheriff Kevin Ellis told the newspaper that the plane was attempting to make an emergency landing and was in radio contact with the Federal Aviation Administration at the time of the crash.

The plane had taken off from Horseshoe Bay Resort, west of Austin, and was headed to Natchitoches, Louisiana, according to flight records. The plane was registered to a corporation in Lafayette, Louisiana.

The National Transportation Safety Board said Sunday it was investigating the crash.