(Reuters) - A private jet crashed near a small airport on the outskirts of Atlanta on Thursday, killing all of its occupants, officials said.

The Cessna Citation 560 aircraft went down shortly after noon EST (1700 GMT) about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from Fulton County Airport-Brown Field on the west side of Atlanta, from which it had just taken off, FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said by email.

Preliminary indications are that there were three people on board, she said. The cause of the crash is under investigation, she added.

The Atlanta Fire Rescue Department said none of the plane’s occupants survived.

Firefighters had extinguished scattered flames in the field that held much of the wreckage, an image of which was posted on Twitter, and were checking the surrounding area to see if anyone on the ground was injured, it said.