Two people have died after a small plane crashed Tuesday shortly after departing the runway in a field near the Chautauqua County-Jamestown Airport in the town of Ellicott.

Names of the victims were not released but authorities did not they were male.

Emergency crews were alerted to the crash around 2 p.m. Light smoke could be seen coming from a wooded area — within sight of the airport’s runways.

Within about 20 minutes, first responders had arrived in the field, accessed from a dirt road off the airport’s parking lot.

About 20 yards from the wooded area was what appeared to be a red and white parachute.

Chautauqua County Sheriff James Quattrone and County Executive PJ Wendel were at the crash site.

Officials confirmed the plane was a Cirrus SR-22. “There was some type of catastrophic failure,” Quattrone said.

As of 3:30 p.m. the airport is closed to all air traffic and the crash site area is restricted as an investigation by the Sheriff’s Office continues.

James Mortimer, a Jamestown resident, was riding his bicycle on Girts Road near the south county airport when he first heard a plane in the area. A minute later, he heard a plane again.

“It looked to me like it was above the runway,” Mortimer told The Post-Journal. “It looked like it was climbing, like it had just taken off. Then I saw it start to make, like it was turning to the left.”

“It started this turn,” he continued. “It banked really steeply, like it was in a bank. I said, ‘That’s not right. That’s not good.’ I thought it was gonna go down right there, but it straightened out again and it turned to the right and flew to the right. .. It wasn’t climbing and it didn’t look like it was dropping too much. But I saw it pop the chute not even two seconds — after it popped the chute it was into the ground.”

Police agencies on the scene include the New York State Police, Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office, Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Office, town of Ellicott Police Department and state Department of Environmental Conservation.

Fire departments on the scene include Fluvanna, which has a substation at the airport. In addition, Gerry Fire Department and Bemus Point was on scene.

Officials were uncertain about injuries or the occupants at this time.

This story will be updated.