A small, single-prop plane crashes into a house in a built-up area, leaving three people dead.

The pilot of the 1972 Piper PA-32 Cherokee Six, a single-prop plane that can seat up to six, asked air traffic control for permission to land minutes after taking off.

But the plane came down in a built-up district of Jackson, Mississippi, before it could make it to the runway.

One woman inside the house escaped injury by jumping out of a window, according to the Clarion-Ledger newspaper.

An inquiry has been launched to find out what caused the crash.

Family members of John Tilton of Ridgeland confirm he was killed in the Jackson plane crash. Tilton was the pilot of the plane.

“We just don’t have anything to say right now,” a male family member answering the phone at Tilton’s home said.

The fate of all three people aboard a small plane that crashed into a west Jackson home shortly after 5 p.m. remains unknown this evening.

The Piper PA-32 Cherokee 6 single-engine aircraft struck the home of Loretta and Roosevelt Jamison on Marcus Butler Drive, just off West Capitol Street, shortly after 5 p.m. after experiencing engine trouble just minutes after leaving Hawkins Field a few blocks away.

Loretta Jamison, who was in the home, escaped by jumping out a window, her relatives said. Roosevelt Jamison wasn’t home.

Hinds County Coroner Sharon Grisham-Stewart was at the scene.

“It was a blast of fire and smoke,” said Bill Hankins, who lives a block from the crash site and witnessed the plane going down.

“It sounded just like a bomb went off, it descended so fast,” Hankins said. “It came down so low, I knew he couldn’t make it (back to Hawkins Field) as he was so low over the trees.

“I heard a sound like it ran out of gas, and it was right over my house. All of a sudden, it just started descending, about four houses away from me, and it got real low almost at the top of the trees, then it fell into a house,” Hankins said.

The plane is owned by Superior Pallet Co. president Roger Latham of Brandon; his wife Michele is vice president of the company. Neither was aboard the plane.

Michele Latham and her daughter Emily arrived at the scene after receiving a call from Roger Latham. Her father was supposed to be on the plane, Emily Latham said, “but he went hunting, thank God.”

Emily Latham identified the pilot, but it was unknown if his relatives had been contacted. She didn’t know the purpose of the flight; FAA investigators said earlier in the evening that it left Hawkins Field headed to Raymond.

Jackson Mississippi Plane Crash Video:

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