Ten people were killed when a small, twin-engine plane crashed into a hangar during takeoff at a Dallas-area airport on Sunday.

Federal officials said two crew members and eight passengers were on board the plane, headed to St Petersburg in Florida, when crashed at 9:11am on Sunday at the Addison Municipal Airport.

Edward Martelle, a spokesman for the town, said the plane crashed during takeoff and the resulting fire was quickly extinguished.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the Beechcraft BE-350 King Air was destroyed in the crash, about 20 miles (32km) north of Dallas, after it struck an unoccupied hangar.

Witnesses who saw the incident said the plane struggled on takeoff and appeared to lose power.

David Snell, who was getting ready to fly from Addison with a friend told KDFW TV that the plane didn’t sound right on takeoff: “It looked like it was clearly reduced power. I didn’t know if it was on purpose or not, but then, when the plane started to veer to the left, and you could tell it couldn’t climb. My friend and I looked at each other and we’re like, ‘Oh my God. They’re going to crash’.”

Another witness, Peter Drake, said he saw the plane crash into the hangar. He said the plane “got onto the runway, went down the runway, started taking off. He got to about 200 feet, and I saw him starting to lose power and his altitude, and then I see him just roll over and came straight down right into the building.”

The Dallas County medical examiners office confirmed the deaths. FAA investigators were at the crash site and the National Transportation Safety Board said it was sending a crew to the scene.

