Wheeling, Ill ? A twin-engine airplane crashed Monday in a commercial area near the Palwaukee Municipal Airport, killing four people, authorities said.

The small plane appeared headed for an arrival at the airport when it crashed about 6:30 p.m., Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory said. The aircraft went down in a commercial area roughly one mile from the airport, she said.

The FAA said the plane was inbound from Olathe, Kan. Four people were aboard the aircraft, National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Paul Schlamm said.

The Cook County medical examiner’s office confirmed four people were killed in the crash but could not immediately provide any details.

The aircraft, a 1974 Cessna 421B, was registered to H K Golden Eagle Inc. of Dover, Del. A phone message left Monday evening with company’s registered agent was not immediately returned.

FAA and NTSB teams will investigate, Cory said.

Palwaukee airport spokesman Robert Mark said the pilot of the plane appeared to have control of the aircraft just before the crash.

“He was maneuvering from west of the airport in such a way to head northbound, making an L shape so he can line up with the runway,” Mark said.

The airport, which handles about 130,000 flights a year, would have been busy at the time of the accident, Mark said.

Winds were blowing at 10 miles an hour from the northwest about the time of the crash, National Weather Service meteorologist Mark Ratzer said. A brief snow storm had passed through the airport roughly two hours before.

“The visibility was 10 miles. That’s not bad at all,” he said.

Wheeling is about 24 miles northwest of Chicago.