Ohio ? A small plane crashed Sunday afternoon in a residential area and killed all six people aboard, including the pilot, a former state lawmaker who had offered joyrides to airport visitors after a charity breakfast.

Gene Damschroder Sr., 86, was flying the fixed-wing, single-engine Cessna when it crashed about 1 p.m., the Ohio State Highway Patrol said. His five passengers also died in the crash in Sandusky County.

“It was just kind of an accident. He was giving airplane rides. He always gives charity air rides,” said Damschroder’s son, Rex Damschroder, who was not at the Fremont airport when the plane crashed.

“Someone said they heard the engine sputter,” he said. “The next thing we knew they were down in a field in a residential area.”

No one on the ground was injured, and no buildings were damaged, patrol Lt. Tony Bradshaw said. It was too early to tell what caused the crash.