Two U.S citizens were among five killed in a plane crash in Londiani, Kenya, a Department of State spokesman confirmed to NBC News on Wednesday.
The Kenyan Civil Aviation Authority said officials received a distress signal at about 10:30 a.m. local time, prompting a search and rescue response.
"The plane clipped the tree and the rear wheels came off," farmworker Joseph Ng'ethe said. "It then careened and crashed into another tree in front and into the ground."
Witnesses said the plane was making odd sounds as it approached the field. The pilot, a Kenyan, gestured at farmworkers on the ground below to move away before the plane hit a tree, they said.