The Associated Press

EASTON, Mass. — A small plane carrying a patient to Boston for medical treatment crashed Tuesday in a grocery store parking lot, killing all three people on board, authorities said.

The single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza went down in the parking lot at a Hannaford grocery store, said Jim Peters, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration.

The plane was designated as an "Angel Flight," Peters said. The regional office of the Angel Flight organization, which provides free air transportation to people who need to travel for medical treatment, had no immediate comment.

The plane took off from Westhampton Beach on New York's Long Island and was carrying the pilot and a couple from Long Island, Peters said. He did not identify or give further details about any of the victims.

An Associated Press photographer on the scene said the plane crashed near a road leading out of the parking lot. A chaplain was on the scene of the wreck late Tuesday morning.

Store manager Arthur Dechellis the plane crashed in an area where people rarely park and no cars were hit.

"I didn't see it, I just heard an explosion," he said. "When I looked outside, it was on fire."

Dechellis said the store remained open.