Three people are feared dead after a small plane plummeted out of the sky and crashed into a fireball at a seaside city.
Authorities are investigating a plane crash in South Carolina today and say at least four people were on board at the time.
One person on Twitter wrote they saw the plane "spiralling downwards" while he was stopped at a red light in his car.
"I pointed it out to my wife and in seconds the smoke was billowing," he said. "Emergency vehicles sped by. This was all while we sat waiting for the light to change."
It is reported the remaining person was left injured after the crash at the Barefoot Resort and Golf Club in North Myrtle Beach, around 11am local time.
Video shot from nearby showed smoke rising from the scene. The crash involved a single-engine Piper PA-32R-300 aircraft.
Both the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating. In a statement provided to the Mirror, the FAA confirmed the NTSB would be leading the crash investigation.
The NTSB told the Mirror an investigator is expected to respond to the scene "sometime later this evening" in order to "document the scene, examine the aircraft, request any air traffic communications, radar data, weather reports and try to contact any witnesses."
The authority added: "The investigator will request maintenance records of the aircraft, and medical records and flight history of the pilot.
"The preliminary information available currently is that a Piper PA-32R-300 (N5524F) crashed under unknown circumstances two miles northwest of Grand Strand Airport after departing runway around 11:20 AM EDT in North Myrtle Beach."
Officer Pat Wilkinson with the North Myrtle Beach Police Department said the road near the crash scene would be closed in the coming days.
Officer Wilkinson confirmed at least one person was pronounced dead at the scene and another was taken to hospital.
City police chief Dana Crowell was present at the scene of the crash, where downed trees were spotted in the road, local reports say.
Witness Candi Hardin said on Facebook that the crash "unfortunately didn't sound good" and it happened "incredibly fast."
Unconfirmed flight data suggests the crash occurred only a few minutes into the flight after it took off from Grand Strand airport.
Another person on Twitter wrote: "A buddy witnessed it while golfing, said it sounded like it was sputtering before crashing."
