Pennsylvania small-plane crash kills 3

updated 1:02 a.m. ET Aug. 14, 2005

ERIE, Pa. - A small plane attempting to land Saturday night crashed about a half-mile short of the runway at Erie International Airport, killing three people and injuring a fourth, airport police said.

The pilot had apparently stopped to get gas in Jamestown, N.Y., but was unable to do so, airport police chief David Bagnoni said.

“My assumption is, they ran out of gas,” Bagnoni said.

Two men and a woman were dead at the scene, he said. Another woman was airlifted to Hamot Medical Center, where a spokeswoman said she was listed in serious condition.

The victims were from Delaware, and may have been on their way back, Bagnoni said. Their names were not immediately released.

The Federal Aviation Administration was investigating the crash, authorities said.

Also Saturday, four people died when a small plane crashed near Centennial Airport south of Denver.

The plane went down in a field about a half-mile south of a residential subdivision, three miles from the airport, said Andy Lyon, a spokesman for South Metro Fire Rescue.

Lt. Alan Stanton of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office said the plane was headed toward the airport but he did not know where it originated.

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