EAST ALTON, Ill. (TNND) — Two people are dead after a helicopter crashed into a barge in the Mississippi River and burst into flames near East Alton, Illinois, on Thursday morning, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Missouri State Highway Patrol confirmed to KSDKthat the two people inside the helicopter were killed, and no one was on the barge when the crash happened.

Troopers reported the people on board were trying to do work on power lines near aviation warning markers when they hit a power wire and knocked it loose into the river. The helicopter tried landing on the barge before it burst into flames.

The crash happened around 11 a.m. about a half-mile from the Alton Dam, Rivers Pointe Fire District Chief Rick Pender said.

The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the incident.