LOS ANGELES -- A Douglas DC-4 cargo plane crashed in the central Alaska Tuesday, killing two people onboard, local authorities said.

The plane took off in the morning from Fairbanks International Airport and crashed about 11 km from there, catching fire on a steep hill on the bank of the river and sending "a large plume of smoke," The Associated Press reported, quoting Alaska State Troopers as saying.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) was sending investigators to the site, said Clint Johnson, chief of the NTSB's Alaska regional office.

It remained unclear what happened in the time between the takeoff and the crash, Johnson was quoted by Fox TV Digital as saying.

Further information such as the fight's purpose and destination was not immediately available.

The DC-4 is a four-engine propeller-driven aircraft that dates back to the early 1940s.