HOUSTON, April 11 (Xinhua) -- A small plane crashed near Boca Raton Regional Airport in the southeastern U.S. state of Florida on Friday morning, leaving three people on board killed and one person on the ground injured, authorities said.
"A Cessna 310 crashed around 10:20 a.m. local time on Friday, April 11, after departing from Boca Raton Airport in Florida. Three people were on board." the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a statement. The plane was headed to Tallahassee International Airport.
Boca Raton Fire Rescue Assistant Chief Michael LaSalle said at a press conference that the three on board were killed and a man on the ground suffered non-life threatening injuries.
"One gentleman on the ground, he hit a tree because of all the debris and the fire," LaSalle said. "It was from the fireball on the ground, he drove through apparently the fireball."
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will investigate the incident, said the FAA in the statement.
The aircraft had reported mechanical issues minutes before the crash, which happened not far from Boca Raton Airport and Interstate 95, according to local media reports.
The incident came just one day after a sightseeing helicopter crashed into the Hudson River in Manhattan, New York City, killing all the six people on board.
