SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WLS) -- Former Springfield mayor Frank Edwards and current Sangamon County Coroner Cinda Edwards, who were married, are two of the three people killed when a twin engine plane crashed several miles outside the Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport outside Springfield Tuesday afternoon, the Sangamon County sheriff said.
Officials said they received a call to the tower that an aircraft had crashed about seven miles south and east of the airport in a rural residential area. According to a homeowner, the plane crashed in back of a house.
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The homeowner said his neighbor called to say the plane had crashed in his backyard, the man told WICS-TV in Springfield. He said there was no damage to his house or property, other than possibly a burned fence.
Officials described the plane as a light twin engine aircraft that would be able to hold up to six passengers. All three people and a dog on board of the plane were killed.
The Sangamon County Sheriff's Department says the pilot of the twin-engine Piper Aerostar reported having trouble with the plane's instruments prior to the crash. Officials said it missed two houses before crashing.
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Officials said the plane was headed to Springfield from Huntsville, Alabama. It originally took off from Florida's Sarasota/Bradenton International Airport.
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the crash.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.