A U.S.-registered helicopter which was participating in Haitian aid efforts crashed in the Dominican Republic on Thursday night, killing two Americans on board, Haitian aviation authorities said on Friday.

The helicopter hit a mountain and burst into flames at Restauracion, close to the Haitian border, some 175 miles northwest of the Dominican capital, Santo Domingo, according to the Dominican Republic's National Institute of Civil Aviation.

The institute identified the dead Americans as James Jaloe and John Ward, but it failed to give more details of their mission or cargo.

It said the helicopter was heading to Santo Domingo from the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince.

The R44 helicopter was owned by JAJ Investments Limited in Naples, Florida, according to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration documents.

The company could not be reached immediately for comment.

Florida Earth