Washington, June 20 (PTI): An Indian-origin neurologist and his doctor wife were killed yesterday when their plane crashed into a corn field in Ohio shortly after take-off.

The New Jersey-based Indian-American couple, Dr Viswanathan Rajaraman, 54, and Dr Mary J. Sundaram, 50, arrived in Columbus on Friday after visiting their daughter Kaavya Viswanathan in Washington.

They had refuelled their single-engine Cirrus CR22 plane, which Rajaraman was flying, at Rickenbacker airport with plans to go home, Lt. Gary Lewis of the Ohio State Highway Patrol said.

A brain-cancer specialist from Tamil Nadu, Rajaraman was also a licensed pilot.

Shortly after take-off yesterday, the plane crashed in a cornfield south of the runway, killing the couple, The Columbus Dispatch reported.

Lewis had identified the victims as residents of Franklin Lakes, New Jersey.

Daughter Kaavya, 24, made headlines in 2006 because of plagiarism allegations against her novel How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life.