GEARHART, Ore. - Five people, including three children, were killed and three others were injured when a single-engine plane hit a tree, then crashed into a house with a vacationing family inside in Gearhart early Monday morning. The plane then burst into flames.

“People were yelling and screaming. It really was horrific,” a witness told KGW. "Everyone who saw this is pretty much in shock. The first house is just gone."

The two adults aboard the rental aircraft that had just taken off from Seaside airport were killed.

At a 1 p.m press conference, Gearhart City Administrator Dennis McNally said two children in the home were taken to in Columbia Memorial Hospital in Astoria and a woman was flown in a LifeFlight helicopter to Legacy Emanuel Hospital in Portland.

McNally said the bodies of two children were recovered from the home and rescuers were searching for a third.

Drew Black, a kgw.com viewer shared this photo from near the crash scene.

“This is the biggest thing that has ever hit Gearhart. It’s such a tragedy, everybody is devastated,” McNary said.

McNally said two adults who had been staying in the home had gone out for a walk before the crash occurred at about 6:37 a.m.

Dawn Black, who lives near the crash site, told KGW she heard a noise that "sounded like a lawn mower puttering out," followed by a loud explosion. Then, when the plane crashed, "it felt like an earthquake."

The home next door also caught fire and parts of the plane were scattered in the back yards, witnesses said. No one was in that home at the time of the crash.

Gearhart Fire Department found the house fully engulfed and it immediately went to three alarms. Fire Departments from Seaside, Warrenton, and Lewis and Clark responded.

The Astorian reports that houses all over Gearhart shook with the impact of the crash and officials at the golf course said it knocked out their power.

McNally said the plane is owned by Aviation Adventures of Seaside.

Conditions in the area were very foggy when the crash occurred, with low clouds, drizzle and light wind.

The Federal Aviation Administration is conducting an investigation.

Identities of the victims have not been released.