Four people have died after a small twin-engine plane crashed in woodland in Florida , killing everyone on-board . The tragedy happened as the pilot was trying to land the aircraft at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport around 4.30pm on Sunday . The unnamed pilot declared an emergency , but the plane crashed shortly after in a wooded area close to the runway , before bursting into flames . Scroll down for video . A 'fireball ' exploded after the twin-engine plane crashed in Florida . The reason for the crash is not yet known . Firefighters battled to put out the flames on the crash site . Four people died in the tragic incident on Sunday . The pilot declared an emergency shortly before the plane crashed into a wooded area close to the runway . Eye-witnesses say they knew something was wrong as they watched the Piper PA-31 aircraft coming into land . 'It sounded low , it looked low ' , Bobby Bemis told NBC in South Florida . 'It nosedived right into the floor . It sounded like a semi truck hit a wall , it was so loud . ' Bavon Sylvain said he heard a 'loud explosion , a big fireball ' . He added : 'From what we saw , with the fireball , you could tell immediately that whoever was on that plane unfortunately passed away . ' The four victims have not been officially named , and it is not known why the plane crashed . Emergency services struggled to reach the scene initially because of the scale of the blaze on the crash site . Emergency services had trouble reaching the crash site because of the size of the fire , and spent Sunday night investigating the scene . Fort Lauderdale Fire Division Chief Chantal Botting.told CBS Miami that there was little left of the plane when the flames were put out . The main cockpit of the vessel is still there , as well as the other adjacent wings and so forth , they are within a remote area , ' he said . The four victims of the crash have yet to be named . One runway at the airport was closed for investigators . 'Our crews made an aggressive attack on the fire , extinguishing the fire within minutes . 'Unfortunately , it was discovered there were four souls on board and unfortunately all four perished . ' The airport remains open but one runway is closed .
Pilot declared emergency but it crashed in woodland just off target . Everyone on - board the Piper PA-31 aircraft was killed in the crash . Investigators in Florida failed to establish what caused the plane crash .