BAY ST. LOUIS (AP) — Two Mississippi men died when a homemade airplane crashed shortly after taking off from a private airstrip.

The Hancock County coroner says 56-year-old Randy Botts, of Perkinston, and 32-year-old Carl Ray Smith, of Picayune, were killed Friday when the plane flipped in the air and crashed, Hancock County Corner Norma Stiglet.

Sheriff’s investigator Richard Fayard said witnesses reported hearing a pop ‘‘then the aircraft did a somersault in the air and went straight in.’’

Botts owned the plane. Both victims were found in their seats, still harnessed.