Small plane crashes in Tokyo neighborhood; 3 dead, 3 survive

A spokesperson from Tokyo Fire Department speaks to the media in front of the site where a light plane went down in a residential area and burst into flames, in Chofu, outskirt of Tokyo, July 26, 2015. A small airplane crashed into a residential area of the Japanese capital, Tokyo, on Sunday, setting fire to houses and cars and injuring at least two people, the Tokyo Fire Department said. [Photo/Agencies]

Tokyo Fire Department spokesman Teruaki Seki said the dead included the pilot, one of the four passengers and a woman who was inside the house where the plane crashed into, setting it ablaze. Five others, including the three remaining passengers and two people on the ground, were taken to hospitals, but their conditions were not immediately known.

The plane was operated by a private company for aviation training and other activity, not for commercial air travel, said Hideaki Kobayashi, the Tokyo metropolitan government official in charge of the Chofu Airport.

Police are investigating the cause of the crash.