Four persons were killed on the outskirts of Bangalore on Saturday when the private aircraft they were traveling in crashed into a coconut tree.

According to the police, the private four seater aircraft belongs to John Alukka, a jeweller from Cochin.

After taking off on Saturday afternoon, the pilot communicated to the air traffic control tower that they were returning as the plane had developed a technical problem. A few minutes later, the control tower lost contact with the aircraft.

The aircraft, which was headed towards Cochin, hit the tree minutes after take-off.

The plane's pilot Santhosh Kumar and passengers Sunil Joseph, Mohammad Kabir and Shanmugam were killed in the accident. Though a rescue team rushed to the spot, three persons died on the spot and one died on the way to the hospital.

The police said that search for the black box, which may provide clues about the cause of the crash, has begun.

The Directorate General of Civic Aviation will visit the crash site on Sunday and conduct an inquiry.

With inputs from PTI