(CNN) -- A small twin-engine plane crashed late Friday afternoon in a warehouse area in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, an FAA spokeswoman said.
The Piper PA31 aircraft went down around 4:30 p.m., soon after departing Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport, said Kathleen Bergen, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration.
The conditions of those onboard the plane, as well as people on the ground who might have been affected, were not immediately known.
Overhead video from CNN affiliate WSVN showed firefighters in a parking lot, hosing down about a dozen cars and trucks that had been charred in the incident. The plane itself was essentially unrecognizable.
Chris Jewett said that he was in his office building across the street when he saw the aircraft go down in a parking lot that he said tow truck drivers would lug vehicles to.
"The whole building shook," he told CNN. "It (felt) like somebody crashed into the building."
Heading outside, Jewett noticed surging flames as well as billowing black smoke.
"Three of four (parked vehicles) actually blew up, the rest caught on fire," he said. "You couldn't really look in."
