JASPER, Ala. (AP) – An Alabama sheriff says four people have died after a small plane crashed shortly after takeoff about 40 miles north of Birmingham.

Walker County Sheriff Mark Tirey identified three victims as car dealer Bobby Crump, his wife, Jan, and their son, Matthew, a University of Alabama student. The fourth victim was family friend Lauren Brue, 19, of Iowa. Authorities don’t know what caused the crash.

Tirey says the plane was bound for the Alabama coast it went down about 8 a.m. Sunday in a wooded area not far from the Walker County Airport in Jasper.

According to Federal Aviation Administration records, the plane was a twin-engine Beechcraft BE-55. Crump was a licensed pilot.

Federal investigators were sent to the scene.

AP-ES-06-29-08 1827EDT