( CNN ) -- One person aboard a single-engine plane was killed Friday after the aircraft crashed in a West Los Angeles neighborhood , authorities said . The pilot of the Cessna 210 declared an emergency for unknown reasons around 6:10 p.m. shortly after leaving Santa Monica Airport , according to Ian Gregor , a spokesman with the Federal Aviation Administration in its Western-Pacific region . The plane then went down about three miles from the airport in a residential neighborhood in West Los Angeles , a few miles from the University of California , Los Angeles , said Gregor . Overhead video from CNN affiliate KTLA showed firefighters working to douse a fire as most of the plane , including a visible part of its wing , lay in the middle of a road . The aircraft appeared to have hit at least one tree , but not any buildings directly . The Los Angeles city fire department said in an e-mail that one person died in the crash , though his or her identity was not released . `` No other patients discovered ; no home damage from fire , '' the fire department said . It was not immediately clear how many people were aboard the aircraft at the time it went down , according to Gregor , and there were no reports of injuries on the ground . The FAA spokesman said the aircraft is registered to a Santa Monica resident . The National Transportation Safety Board will serve as the lead investigative agency looking into the crash , assisted by the FAA , according to Gregor . Read more about this story from CNN affiliate KTLA .
Single-engine aircraft crashes shortly after takeoff from Santa Monica , the FAA says . One person on the plane dies , `` no other patients discovered , '' the fire department says . The pilot declared an emergency shortly after departing , according to the FAA .