Nine people were killed Tuesday afternoon when a small private jet crashed into an apartment building while trying to land in Akron, Ohio.
The plane, a 10-seat Hawker H25 chartered jet, was on approach to the airport when it crashed, reported news service AFP.
The Akron Beacon Journal, citing the plane owner's Augusto Lewkowicz, said nine people were on board including two pilots.
"None are believed to be alive," the newspaper said in a report on its website.
Ohio Highway Patrol Lt. Bill Haymaker said no one on the ground was killed or injured, reported The Associated Press.
The jet took off from Dayton and planned to land at Akron Fulton International Airport, about two miles from where it crashed. Haymaker said it clipped utility wires on the way down and crashed into the building, which was destroyed by a subsequent fire.
The plane then hit an embankment beyond the building, causing a nearby house to also burn.
The plane burst into flames and disintegrated after impact.
Lewkowicz said he would not identify those on board before informing their families, saying: "I owe responses to the family members first."
City authorities said in a statement that firefighters had worked to extinguish the blazes caused by the crash, adding that an investigation had been launched and a team from the National Transportation Safety Board was due at the scene.
Witnesses said they heard explosions when the plane hit, said the AP.
Carrie Willis lives several blocks away.
"I heard a big bang, and my couch shook twice," Willis said.
Another witness, Roberta Porter, lives about a block away from the Akron crash site. She was driving home when she saw the plane crash into the building and burst into flames.
"This plane just dropped out of the sky, veered and crashed into the apartment building," Porter said.
She said it's scary to think that if she had been driving faster the plane might have clipped her car.
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