Authorities say a small plane crash in southeast Ohio killed a pilot from Illinois who was heading from Pennsylvania to the St. Louis area.

The State Highway Patrol says 56-year-old Donald Cates of Scott Air Force Base died Friday when the single-engine plane plummeted into a lawn east of Belmont, Ohio.

The cause is under investigation.

Troopers say Cates took off from Mifflin County Airport in Reedsville, Pa.

Records indicate the amateur-built aircraft was registered to a nonprofit humanitarian group that works to help the poor.

The vice president of Wings of Hope in Chesterfield, Mo., tells The Post-Dispatch in St. Louis that Cates was a longtime volunteer and was flying a donated plane back to Missouri.

The Air Force base did not respond to a message seeking comment Sunday.