LANSING | Matthew McClure fell in love with flying early on and piloted his first plane at 16, said his mother, Pamela Neece.

He died doing what he loved.

McClure, of Manhattan, Ill., near Joliet, and David Kubsch, of a South Bend native who recently moved to Valparaiso, were identified by officials Saturday as the two men killed about 7:20 p.m. Friday when the twin-engine plane they were flying crashed in a steady rain onto Calumet Avenue in Munster.

McClure and Kubsch both died of blunt force trauma, a Lake County coroner's report said. Both would have turned 27 in two weeks, Munster police Sgt. Steven Kovacik said.

No cars were struck and nobody else was injured in the crash on the heavily traveled four-lane road, which runs past a hospital, a string of doctors' offices and numerous homes and businesses.

Kubsch's family members said they think Kubsch was flying the twin-engine plane.

Kubsch and his girlfriend, Trisha Brazelton, moved to Valparaiso in September so Kubsch could work for Chicago Business Air Charter, family members said. He made a point of seeing his parents, who are divorced, and a slew of aunts, uncles and cousins during his visits home.

An investigation into the crash turned up new details Saturday, but officials have yet to determine what brought down the Beechcraft Baron 58, National Safety Transportation Board senior investigator John Brannen said.

It's not known if weather played a role, he said.

The crash heavily damaged the plane's nose and right wing and dislodged the right engine, Brannen said. Officials have not determined that the plane nose-dived onto the road, he said.

A fuel tank aboard the plane was full and did not rupture in the crash, Brannen said.

The plane did not contain a flight recorder, and officials have requested radar data to plot the flight path, Brannen said.

The investigation by the NTSB, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Munster Police Department could take six months to conclude, Brannen said.

McClure and Kubsch flew the plane out of Lansing Municipal Airport between 5:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. and spent nearly two hours in the air on what Brannen said was a pleasure flight.

Shortly before the crash, the Beechcraft made radio contact with the pilot of a plane preparing to land at the Lansing airport, Brannen said. The pilot of that plane is being contacted as part of the investigation, he said.

The Beechcraft crashed less than a mile from the Lansing airport, where it was attempting to return.

The two men had been co-workers at the Lansing airport, Brannen said. He wouldn't say which of the men was piloting the plane.

Steve Leaven, whose Hinsdale-based SL Air International owns the Beechcraft, described both McClure and Kubsch as "very, very good pilots, very accomplished, with a lot of time under their belts."

Leaven said both men worked for him, McClure as a charter pilot and Kubsch as a dispatcher.

Kubsch and McClure flew for Lansing, Ill.-based Chicago Business Air Charter, said Holly Kubsch, Kubsch's mother.

McClure's mother clutched a framed photo of a smiling Matthew as she waited outside Lansing Municipal Airport to hear from officials investigating the crash.

McClure, she said, was "just a very loving, caring person and always ready to help people in need."

Lansing Municipal does not have a flight tower. Planes flying in and out of the airport use instrument flight rules and their radios.

No similar accident had occurred in Munster in "many, many years," Town Manager Tom DiGiulio said.

The proximity of the Lansing airport to the town has forced some restrictions on residential and commercial development, including height restrictions, DiGiulio said.

Flight patterns out of the airport are regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration, and not by the town, DiGiulio said.

Joshua Stowe, of the South Bend Tribune, contributed to this report.