At least eight people died after a corporate jet crashed near or at the Owatonna, Minn., Degner Regional Airport. Strong thunderstorms were moving through the area at the time and weather spotters reported 72 m.p.h. wind gusts.

Crews feared a ninth person may have been on board, but Department of Public Safety spokesman Doug Neville says it was determined that wasn't the case.

Investigators believe the plane was en route from Atlantic City, New Jersey.

The flight-tracking Web site FlightAware.com showed that a Raytheon Hawker 800 owned by charter firm East Coast Jets Incorporated was due to fly from Atlantic City to Owatonna, arriving at 9:42 Thursday morning. The small business jet was scheduled to leave Owatonna at 11:40 a.m. for Crossville, Tennessee. Owatonna is about 60 miles south of Minneapolis.

A person who answered the phone at East Coast Jets said he had no comment.

The Owatonna People's Press reports the plane was carrying customers to Viracon, an Owatonna-based glass company.

Viracon President Don Pyatt told the newspaper that the customers were from "a couple of different companies" who were coming to the plant to discuss a project in Las Vegas. Pyatt gave no other details.

A spokeswoman for Viracon's parent company, Apogee Enterprises, confirmed to The Associated Press that the people on the plane were customers of Viracon but declined to provide any other details. She says no Viracon employees were involved in the crash.