GOLD BEACH, Ore. — Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board were at the scene Monday of a plane crash in a rugged, remote region of Southern Oregon that killed four people over the weekend.

Curry County Marine Deputy Ted Heath said evidence of the Saturday crash, near Half Moon Bar Lodge on the wild and scenic section of the Rogue River, suggests that the 1955 Cessna's right wing clipped the top of a tree and came apart.

"A witness told me that the plane had gone downriver, and was flying low and sounded like there were no problems," Heath said. "Then, it took a hard left turn right above the river, and clipped the top of a tree with the wing. That piece came off, which shifted the plane. It nose-dived down, and immediately exploded."

The wing of the plane was found apart from the rest of the machine, Heath said, and had not burned.

The plane was flown by aircraft mechanic Vern Robert Miller, 60, of San Jose, Calif., whom Heath described as a "very accomplished pilot." His wife, Elizabeth George Miller, 58, also was on board with passengers, Sharon Viola Hanson, 61, and Roberta Ellen Way, 65, both from Creswell.

Hanson and Way had been friends for nearly 40 years, raising their kids together and taking joint family vacations. The two were at their annual girls' getaway weekend at the secluded Paradise Lodge on the Rogue River.

Way's husband, Bob, said the pair apparently accepted an impromptu invitation from Miller, who had just delivered supplies to the lodge and had another delivery to make at a lodge upriver.

"They just went for a quick little joy ride," Heath said. "They didn't know what had hit them. It's a real tough area to fly in, and accidents can happen."

The pilot's daughter, Jennifer Willsey of Salem, said her father was taking a load of fresh strawberries to a lodge make shortcake for dessert, a treat he had delivered in the past. "He was doing what he loved the most," Willsey said.

Hanson's husband, Ron, a Creswell city councilman and former ccity manager there, told The Register-Guard newspaper of Eugene that it was "an immense comfort" to know the two friends were together when they died.

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Information from: The Register-Guard, http:www.registerguard.com