The four men and one woman aboard were pronounced dead at the scene about 50 miles south of Reno, he said. Their names were not immediately released.
Witnesses told authorities that the plane appeared to be flying normally before it nose-dived into the ground. They said they didn't hear any unusual noises or see any parts separate from the plane before the crash.
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said the pilot didn't file a flight plan and it was uncertain where the plane was heading. It crashed about 12 miles from the airport.
The cause of the crash is under investigation by the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board.
The crash occurred in the rural Carson Valley along the eastern base of the Sierra Nevada mountain range.
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