American Eagle Flight 4184 from Indianapolis to Chicago had been circling in a holding pattern before it began its descent and disappeared from the radar, said Tim Smith, a spokesman for American Eagle. It was not immediately clear how long the plane had been waiting to land.
The plane went down 50 kilometers south of Gary, in northwest Indiana, around 4 P.M. It had left Indianapolis 45 minutes late because of heavy traffic in Chicago.
"It came down, almost straight down, not at an angle -- just straight down," said Larry Midkiff, who saw the crash as he was driving along the highway.
State police and airline officials said none of the 64 passengers or four crew members survived. American Eagle would not comment on the possible cause of the crash.
It was the third major U.S. plane crash this year.
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