LAKE WALES, Fla. (AP) — A Kansas businessman, his wife and their four children were killed Thursday when their small plane crashed into a swampy area of central Florida, authorities said. They were travelling from the Bahamas.

The single-turboprop, fixed wing plane broke apart and went down about 12:30 p.m. in the Tiger Creek Preserve, just south of Lake Wales, the Polk County Sheriff's office said. Ronald Bramlage, 45, was piloting the plane headed from the Bahamas to Junction City, Kan. The family had stopped for customs in Fort Pierce, Fla., and had taken off a half-hour before the crash.

The 2006 Pilatus PC-12/47 was at about 26,000 feet when it first began experiencing trouble, officials said. Deputies reached the area by helicopters but it was clear there were no survivors, the sheriff's office said.

The cause wasn't immediately known, and parts of the plane were found two miles from the crash site, which was only reachable by helicopters and all-terrain vehicles. The National Transportation Safety Board will lead the investigation but a Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman said it would take a long time.

Ronald Bramlage was a prominent businessman in Junction City and owned Roadside Ventures LLC, to which the plane was registered. Also killed were his wife, Rebecca Bramlage, 43, and their four children, whose ages were not released.