( CNN ) -- A small plane headed from New Jersey to suburban Atlanta crashed onto an interstate shortly after takeoff Tuesday , killing five people , authorities said . Two men , one woman , two children and a dog aboard the plane died in the crash in Morristown , New Jersey , just after 10 a.m . ET , said Robert Gretz , a senior air safety investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board . The plane , a six-seater Socata TBM700 , was headed from Teterboro , New Jersey , to DeKalb-Peachtree Airport in suburban Atlanta when it crashed onto Interstate 287 about 14 minutes into the flight , Gretz said . The plane was at about 17,500 feet when `` there was some discussion between the pilot and the controller of locations of icing conditions , '' he said . He told reporters Monday night the conversation seemed `` routine '' and was `` not a distress call . '' Gretz said he did not know whether the conversation concerned a cloud that might contain ice ; actual icing on the airplane ; or whether the pilot was inquiring where ice might be or reporting it . `` I 've heard this thirdhand . ... That 's something I need to listen to the tapes to know , '' he said . Gretz said he was not aware of any icing conditions on the ground at Teterboro that would have required the plane to be deiced . However , he stressed that the investigation is in its infancy and it is too soon to speculate what might have caused the crash . `` It 's too early to tell whether it was something mechanical or something the pilot did -- we just do n't know , '' he said . Preliminary information is that the five were headed to Atlanta for a combination business-leisure trip , Gretz said . Authorities did not release the names of those who died , pending positive identification by the medical examiner and notification of relatives . But New York investment banking firm Greenhill & Co. reported that those on board were two of the firm 's managing directors , Jeffrey Buckalew , 45 , and Rakesh Chawla , 36 ; Buckalew 's wife , Corinne , and their two children , Jackson and Meriwether . Ages for the children were not given . `` The plane belonged to Mr. Buckalew , an experienced pilot whose passion was flying , '' the company said in a statement . `` The firm is in deep mourning over the tragic and untimely death of two of its esteemed colleagues and members of Jeff 's family . '' No one on the ground was injured , although a pickup truck narrowly missed the plane , Gretz said . The debris field from the crash was spread over about a half-mile , with part of a wing and the plane 's tail found in a tree in a residential area , he said . Witnesses reported the plane was in an `` uncontrolled spin '' before it crashed . A Federal Aviation Administration radar facility in New York lost radio contact with the plane , and also lost it on radar , FAA spokesman Jim Peters said . The crash site was about 30 miles southwest of the Teterboro airport , Peters said . Gretz said Monday evening he was not sure how long after the conversation regarding icing that the plane dropped off radar , saying investigators will be determining that . The plane struck the southbound lanes of I-287 , continued through a wooded median and came to rest on the northbound lanes , New Jersey State Police Lt. Stephen Jones said . Most of the interstate was shut down after the crash , Jones said . One northbound lane and two southbound lanes were open as of Tuesday afternoon , but officials were `` still trying to recover both the pieces of the plane and the remains of the victims . '' Gretz said Monday night the wreckage recovery was halted about 6 p.m. because of darkness and would resume after Tuesday 's morning rush hour , at 9:30 a.m . The New Jersey Department of Transportation said motorists had two of three travel lanes in each direction available for Monday evening 's rush hour . CNN 's Mike Ahlers contributed to this report .
An investment firm identifies those killed in the crash . Before the crash , the pilot mentioned icing , NTSB investigator says . The crash 's debris field stretches over a half-mile . Crash shut down most of Interstate 287 in Morristown , New Jersey .