DENVER -- Another plane has crashed near Centennial Airport Friday afternoon, killing all three people on board, Parker Fire Department officials said.

It is the second deadly accident at the airport in a week.

The Cessna 421 twin-engine went down at 3:34 p.m., about 200 yards from the end of runway 17L, exploding on impact.

The plane was taking off from the airport and had gotten into the air for about 50 to 100 feet -- heading west -- when witnesses saw it bank hard to the right and then dive into the ground at a 45-degree angle. Only the tail of the plane was visible in the smoking wreckage. (See Pictures Of Plane Crash Wreckage)

Officials said that the pilot had reported an engine problem just before the crash and radioed that the plane was returning to the airport.

The identities of the two men and one woman on board have not been released but aircraft registration records show the plane was registered to 19-year-old Nadia Barghelame, of Loveland. The plane carried the name Mexico Meds Online on its side. The Web site has a Loveland mailing address.

Authorities said that dentals records will need to be used to formally identify the victims.

The crash occurred near the Meridian Business Park, right outside the window of a witness who said when he saw the plane, he knew right away it was in trouble.

"He really was sideways like this when he was trying to bank it back around. It wasn't just like a wing dip; he looked like he was banking it really hard to the right, maybe, possibly, trying to go back to the airport," said eyewitness Cheche Mata. "Playing it back in my mind, coming down from 100 feet, and probably at the speed he was coming, I'm not sure anyone could have gotten out. And of course, there was a huge fireball, probably 50 feet high."

A team with the National Transportation Safety Board will arrive Saturday morning to investigate the accident.

Video

Airtracker 7 Flies Over Wreckage

Airtracker 7 pilot Rich Westra said that weather did not appear to be a factor in the crash because winds were light and visibility was clear. It is not known where the plane was heading because under visual flight rules, only the direction of takeoff is required to be logged.

A large patch of blackened, burned grass was nearby the wreckage, and the Colorado State Patrol briefly closed nearby roads.

There have been eight deaths in the past three weeks in three separate plane crashes in Colorado. Two people were killed when a plane crashed and burned last Friday night after taking off from Centennial airport.

"It's very rare to have incidents like this in the first place. It's inexplicable to have two on two consecutive Fridays," airport executive director Robert Olislagers said. "The skies are clear. We're just dumbfounded."

The twin-engine Mitsubishi MU-2 crashed shortly after takeoff on Dec. 2, killing pilot Paul Krysiak, 28, of Aurora, and co-pilot James Presba, 25, of Lone Tree. The cause of that crash has not been determined.

Olislagers said there were more than 360,000 operations at the airport last year, ranking it as the third-busiest general aviation airport in the nation and the country's 25th busiest airport overall.

On Nov. 28, three people were killed at Montrose Airport in western Colorado. NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol, his 21-year-old son, Charlie, and co-pilot Eric Wicksell were the only survivors of the Montrose crash.

A Cessna 421, also known as a Golden Eagle, can have four to six passengers in addition to the pilot and co-pilot. It's been flying for almost 40 years and is known for its comfort, speed, reliability and predictable handling.

A Cessna 421 crashed earlier this month near an airport in Chattanooga, Tenn., on Dec. 2, killing five people. The lone survivor said the plane lost power in its right engine and airplane banked to the right before crashing in trees. The NTSB is still investigating the circumstances of that crash.

This crash marks the fourth deadly crash involving a Cessna 421 in the last four months, 7NEWS reported.

Because of the nature of the crash and the fact that no identification was found on the victims, the coroner's office plans to formally identify the victims through dental records. The owner of the plane and purpose for the flight is still not known, but the plane was not based out of Centennial Airport, Douglas County Sheriff's Office said.

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