Two men who died in a chartered plane crash Saturday on the island of Grand Manan, N.B. have been identified, as an investigation into why the aircraft went down gets underway.

Officials identified Atlantic Charters president Klaus Sonnenberg and William Mallock as the two men who died in the crash.

Sonnenberg was one of two pilots aboard the aircraft, and Mallock was an on-duty paramedic.

Both Mallock and Sonnenberg had extensive experience in their fields. On his LinkedIn profile, Sonnenberg was listed as having owned Atlantic Charters for more than 30 years, since 1982. Mallock had almost 20 years of experience as a paramedic.

The men were on a routine flight in a plane chartered by Ambulance New Brunswick when the plane crashed at about 5 a.m. Saturday. The plane went down just metres from the Grand Manan airport runway.

Two other people on the plane, a Grand Manan hospital nurse and second pilot, were injured in the crash. Both are now recovering in hospital.

"They were in stable but serious condition," RCMP Sgt. Earl Nini told CTV Atlantic.

The four were headed back to Grand Manan after dropping off a patient at the Saint John Regional Hospital.

Details of what happened are still unknown.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has launched an investigation and RCMP sent a chopper to examine the site on Saturday.

Doug McEwen, a senior investigator with the Transportation Safety Board, said Sunday that he has already spoken with the survivors.

“Once we’ve had the opportunity to gather the factual information here, we’ll make arrangements to speak with them again,” McEwen told reporters near the wreckage site.

Community in mourning

The town of 2,000 residents is grieving as they wait for answers. Grand Manan residents say the whole island is in mourning.

“It’s just hard to believe that something like this has happened,” said Mayor Dennis Greene.

New Brunswick MLA Rick Doucet said Sonnenberg had decades of experience in the air.

“He knew his stuff, there’s a number of people that can basically count the blessings of having Klaus because they got off this island very safely to hospitals,” Doucet said.

Grand Manan resident Allan McDonald said Mallock was also a seasoned paramedic.

“The paramedic that was with him, they’ve flown thousands of hours, I’m sure,” McDonald said. “He was one of the first paramedics on the island.”

In a statement issued Saturday evening, Ambulance New Burnswick interim president Paul Ward said the company extends its sympathies to the deceased.

“William, or Billy as he was known by his friends, and the pilot lost their lives serving the public and helping patients," said Ward. "We also want to express our sympathies and the hope for a speedy and complete recovery to the two others that suffered injuries in the accident."

Atlantic Charters also released a statement Sunday morning. The company sent thoughts and prayers to the injured and to Mallock’s loved ones, and asked for time and respect as they cope with their own loss.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Alyse Hand and Ashley Dunbar