Aug. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Ten people died after a twin-engine turboprop plane crashed last night shortly after takeoff from the Canyonlands Field Airport in Moab, Utah, said Grand County Sheriff James Nyland.

The National Transportation Safety Board is on site and investigating the accident today, Nyland said.

``We got a report at 5:55 p.m. of a large fire about three miles (4 kilometers) southwest of the Canyonlands Airport, which is in a remote, desert area, so that was troublesome,'' said Nyland in a telephone interview.

Nyland said there was no severe weather or strong winds at the time of the crash. Moab is about 245 miles southeast of Salt Lake City, near the Canyonlands and Arches national parks.

The aircraft was a Beechcraft King Air A-100, said Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Mike Fergus. The plane usually seats between six and eight people plus crew, according to the Hawker Beechcraft Web site.

``The aircraft was pretty much destroyed,'' said Keith Holloway, a spokesman for the NTSB, in an interview.

The dead, who are believed to all be from Cedar City, Utah, were identified as dermatologist Lansing Ellsworth, who is the director of Red Canyon Aesthetics & Medical Spa in Cedar City, the sheriff's department said in a statement. The others were the pilot, three men and five women.

No one answered the main telephone number at Red Canyon, which has its main dermatology clinic in Cedar City and affiliated clinics through Utah, Nevada and Arizona, according to its Web site.

To contact the reporter on this story: Dan Hart in Washington at dahart@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: August 23, 2008 16:59 EDT