Plane crash kills three in Washington, sets homes ablaze

Plane crash in Gaithersburg: Phot credit: NBC Washington

A small airplane crashed into a neighborhood in the Washington, D.C. suburb of Gaithersburg, Maryland Monday, reportedly killing at least three people aboard the aircraft.

The Embraer EMB-500 twin-engine jet was a mile away from Montgomery County Airport on approach to land when the accident occurred, according to a statement from the Federal Aviation Administration.

Plane crash in Gaithersburg: Fire fighters at the scene. Photo credit: NBC Washington

Three people were killed in the crash, all passengers of the plane, according to local newspaper The Gazette.

Several homes were hit by debris from the plane, destroying large sections of the houses.

Numerous homes were set on fire by the crash as well.

*Update: Reports later increased death toll to six, including three people inside a house, killed when the plane went down, a county spokesman said on Twitter.

Local media reported a mother and two young children were killed in their house.

The plane had departed from North Carolina earlier in the morning.