4 injured in small plane crash northwest of Denver

Two adults and two juveniles were rushed to the hospital after a small plane crashed in the area of Oberon and Carr in Arvada on Friday morning. Police in Arvada sent emergency crews to the neighborhood after reports of the crash came in about 9:30 a.m. 

CBS News Colorado spoke to National Transportation Safety Board at the scene. Anyone who might have witnessed the plane crash is asked to call NTSB at 202-314-6290.

In the picture tweeted by the Arvada Police Department, there was wreckage from a small fixed-wing aircraft in the front yard of a home. Firefighters were seen spraying down the wreckage with a firehose.  

According to the FAA, the plane was a single-engine Beechcraft 35 with four people on board when it crashed. The aircraft departed from Centennial Airport and was en route to Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport in Broomfield when it crashed. 

About 10-15 minutes after takeoff, the plane began to have engine issues. According to investigators, the pilot attempted to land on a roadway, considered a safe option in emergency situations, but the pilot was unsuccessful. 

The radio traffic detailed the emergency situation before the crash: 

Pilot: I'm losing power quickly. I might have to put it down somewhere near Standley.

Air Traffic Control: Let me know if there's anything I can do.

Pilot: Ahhh, I don't know what to do. I'm gonna have to put it down in a field somewhere.

"We don't know how many people were in the aircraft but we did transport four people with various injuries to local hospitals," said Arvada Fire Department Deputy Chief Matt Osier. "I have no idea if they were passengers on the aircraft or bystanders."  

The investigation later revealed that all four hurt were onboard the plane. 

Osier said the fire did not spread to any other structures. 

CBS News Colorado Your Reporter in Jefferson County Karen Morfitt was at the scene of the crash minutes after the plane went down. She described a trail of debris surrounding the crash site along Oberon.

She said neighbors could hear the crash from several blocks away. 

One woman was outside watering her plants when she saw the plane drop from the sky. 

"When I saw the plane hit the tree, it clipped the tree, came and hit the ground, slid… flipped, slid and caught fire and landed in the neighbor's driveway," said the woman. "The engine was on because it sounded like a motorcycle… a strange-sounding motorcycle." 

"I was inside and I heard a very loud 'Boom!' and I came out and didn't see anything initially and my wife said she thought she saw a plane come through," said Bob who lives just two houses away from the plane crash. "All I could see was a lot of smoke. I couldn't tell if the plane hit the house or what."

Other neighbors have expressed their shock and concern after the plane crashed. 

"I noticed how low it was that's when I started paying attention, that's when I saw it kind of u-turn pivoting and when it started gliding back towards a car, I started following it, that's when I saw it hit and go into flames. When it got close to the truck it just burst into flames," said witness Ericka Garcia. "When I pulled up, I arrived as soon as it hit... it burst into flames and I saw everybody on the ground, there was too much flames, there was two on the street... I couldn't see where the other two bodies were... people were picking them up and neighbors were helping out with everything."

There was a red pickup truck at the scene that showed some damage to the front and side, along with at least one flat tire. 

"In addition to putting out the fire, we have our hazmat crews on scene because with aircraft comes fuel, said Osier. "In addition to that, we're securing our scene for our investigators and the NTSB."

What happened leading up to the crash is being investigated by Arvada Fire, the FAA and the NTSB.

Carr Street has been closed to traffic. The public is urged to avoid the area during the crash investigation and cleanup. 

In a news conference around 2 p.m., Jeffco authorities say all four people who were hurt in the crash were on the plane. 

The plane reportedly had an engine issue when it was forced to make an emergency landing. 

They were last reported in serious and critical condition, according to Jeffco authorities. 

On Friday afternoon, firefighters cleared the wreckage by cutting up the plane with a saw and also burning away the rest of the fuel.