Multiple people were killed Friday morning in Southern Indiana after a small jet owned by prominent architect Wayne Estopinal crashed after takeoff in a densely wooded area roughly 16 miles from downtown Louisville.

Three people were believed to be aboard the plane, including the pilot, Indiana State Police said Friday afternoon. There were no survivors, they said.

As of 3:45 p.m., authorities did not say whether Estopinal was on the plane, a Cessna Citation Jet.

Authorities told the Courier Journal the plane was owned by EstoAir LLC, a company based in Jeffersonville. The company is managed by Estopinal.

Estopinal is a founding member of Louisville City FC, and invented the Esto Retractable mound, that allows the team to play soccer at Louisville Slugger Field. He also is the president of TEG Architects, a Jeffersonville firm known for planning health care facilities.

The plane crashed around 11:30 a.m., about six minutes after leaving Clark Regional Airport on its way to Chicago-Midway, authorities said.

"It's certainly a tragic event," Clark County Sheriff Jamey Noel said near the scene, a largely rural area of farm fields and wooded areas. "Please keep the family of the victims in your prayers."

It’s unclear what caused the crash. But the plane “disintegrated before it hit the ground,” a Clark County Sheriff’s pilot told JR Aviation pilot Reed Yadon, who was flying a Courier Journal photographer to the scene. The sheriff's pilot did not elaborate.

The crash happened near the 2600 block of Crone Road.

There could have been as many as 10 people on board based on the plane size and model, Noel said. He added that authorities had not located any survivors.

Nearby resident Mike Martel said an explosion shook his house, then he saw a towering billow of charcoal colored smoke. Another neighbor who lives near the crash scene said it sounded “like a bomb dropped.”

No severe weather was reported in the area at the time of the crash. Winds were light from the east at 5 to 6 mph with low clouds, and there was no rain, said Ryan Sharp, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Louisville.

Police used ATVs and four-wheel-drive vehicles to reach the crash scene. Few large pieces of the plane remained intact.

“There’s no (pieces of) what people would recognize easily as an aircraft back there,” Noel said.

Read this:Southern Indiana plane crash: Here's what we know

The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration were sending teams of investigators to the scene. The Indiana State Police, Sellersburg Fire Department and Clark County authorities also responded.

Estopinal is deeply involved in the community and has served locally on the Louisville Sports Commission Board of Directors, Louisville Zoo Foundation Board of Directors, Lincoln Heritage Council Boy Scouts of America Board of Directors, Community Bankshares of Indiana Board of Directors and the Your Community Bank Board of Directors.

Follow Billy Kobin on Twitter: @Billy_Kobin