HUGGINS, Mo. -- Authorities say a mother and father and two of their children have died and another child was hurt when a small plane crashed while taking off from a grass airstrip in southwest Missouri.

Texas County Coroner Tom Whittaker says the crash happened between 6:30 a.m. and 7 a.m. Friday in a rural area near the town of Huggins. The wreckage was at the end of a private runway.

Whittaker declined to release the names or ages of the victims, but said the two youngest victims were a boy and a girl. He said he didn't have any details about the child who survived.

FAA spokesman Tony Molinaro identified the crashed plane as a Beechcraft A-36. He said the FAA was headed to the scene to begin an investigation.